The Wand Chooses the Witch, Miss Granger
by lunalustgood
Summary: Hermione arrives to school in her final year more confident than ever. Malfoy knows something she doesn't. Rated M because I have a Trelawney vibe of future lemons. Perfect mix of humor and angst.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The story takes place in the Golden Trio's last year at Hogwarts. No war, no Snape/Dumbledore deaths. Unlike my previous stories, I'm writing this one as I go, and hoping for it to be a bit longer, so bear with me! And please review for any criticism/compliments/suggestions! :3 ALL OF MY STORIES REVOLVE AROUND ***CONSENSUAL*** SEXY TIME.

Disclaimer: If I owned anything Harry Potter related Dramione would exist in the books, SO THERE.

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**CHAPTER ONE: DIAGON ALLEY**

Malfoy squinted in the sun as he strolled the cobblestone roads of Diagon Alley. He had shaken off Crabbe and Goyle only minutes before, each complaining about the heat. Malfoy was on his way to Flourish and Blotts when he spotted Hermione Granger at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, surprisingly alone. Potter and Weasley must've not met up with her yet, he mused to himself.

Hermione was sitting under a green and white parasol, slurping on a pink ice cream cone. Malfoy smirked and walked towards her.

"I thought I smelled a Mudblood," Malfoy said mildly, only a few feet away from Hermione.

She looked up. "Tell me, Malfoy, why is it that you're unable to see me and simply walk past me? I really don't require all this attention."

Malfoy came up to her table and leaned his elbows on the back of a chair. "Well, I just couldn't help but notice the way you were sucking down that ice cream cone."

Hermione snorted. "Please. Who do I look like, Pansy? You'll have to do better than that."

"Now now," Malfoy said in a low voice, "I wouldn't want a little Mudblood like yourself getting any ideas."

"If you use that word one more time I'll slap you like I did four years ago," Hermione retorted calmly, and took another lick from her ice cream.

Malfoy laughed, and leant forwards over the chair so that only she could hear him. "Only if you promise to be on top of me while doing it," he whispered, causing Hermione to choke slightly, her eyes watering.

Malfoy smirked. "Besides, you might want to be a little more friendly considering how close we'll be come September."

Hermione stared at him blankly. "What're you-"

"Oh, I think you'll find out soon enough," Malfoy said softly. Hermione felt a pounding in her chest. Was it from nervousness? Excitement? Either way, it was only enhanced by Malfoy's dangerous grin, his eyes boring into her as if she was wearing nothing.

"I'll see you next week, Muddie," Malfoy said with a slight smirk, and turned his back on her, crossing the street to Flourish and Blotts.

Hermione's mind raced as she thought of what he said, and only snapped back to reality when realizing the pink ice cream was now dribbling down her hand.

IIIII

"Hermione! OI, HERMIONE!" Ron Weasley shouted inside Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, the joke shop owned by his twin brothers. Hermione spun around and saw Ron accompanied by a grinning Harry.

"Finally!" Hermione exclaimed, running up to them, "I've been looking for you everywhere! Listen, I ran into Malfoy…"

IIIII

"So, you think Malfoy might be up to something again?" Harry asked slowly. The three of them had moved from the joke shop and were now in the Owlery.

"Possibly," Hermione said, stroking a tawny owl, "But I doubt it. Remember what happened when he tried to meddle with Hagrid's case with Buckbeak? Or the failure with the Vanishing Cabinets? Maybe he just knows something like he did in fourth year, when the Triwizard Tournament came to Hogwarts."

"Hermione, is that all Malfoy said to you," Ron asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Hermione turned a bright shade of magenta. She had left out the parts where Malfoy teased her in a way that was more playful than his usual brand of pure evil. It seemed too odd to discuss out loud, let alone with Harry and Ron.

"I think so, yes," Hermione said, and turning her back on the two, began to feed another owl.

"We should probably get going," Harry started, moving towards the door with the others, "I still have to get new quills and-" Harry stopped suddenly, so that both Hermione and Ron bumped into him.

"Harry, what-"

"Well well, what do we have here?" came the smooth voice of a tall, platinum haired boy. His demeanor was cold, but there was amusement in his expression. Malfoy's eyes scanned over the three of them.

"Potty," he said, gesturing at Harry, "and a weasel," he pointed at Ron.

"Oh, and a Mudblood," Malfoy said as an afterthought, glancing at Hermione casually.

Harry and Ron took out their wands but Hermione came in front of them and laughed sweetly, "Oh, very witty, really, Malfoy," she said, and began to drag Harry and Ron away from him when he said, "Actually, Granger, I haven't finished yet." The three of them stopped.

"Yeah, we have some questions for you too, Malfoy," Ron said loudly. Malfoy looked at him quite calmly.

"You will only speak when spoken too," he said. Ron let out a snort but then his eyes widened and he looked like he was on the verge of being sick. Opening his mouth, Ron tried to speak but was unable to utter a word. Malfoy had cursed him with a silencing spell.

"Idiot," Hermione muttered (though it wasn't completely obvious to whom she was referring to), and with a quick flick of her wand, undid Malfoy's spell. Ron immediately opened his mouth to start yelling again but Hermione stepped on his foot and he remained silent.

"What do you want, Malfoy," Harry said rudely.

"Just wanted to say you better watch out for Muddie over here," Malfoy suggested quietly, and without another word walked past the three of them, his gaze frosting Hermione.

"Muddie? What the bloody hell was that, exactly?" Ron fumed at Hermione, his ears ruby-red. Hermione stood, dumbfounded.

"I…don't know," she said truthfully.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: BACK AT HOGWARTS**

The summer went by quickly and after the trio's trip to Diagon Alley, Hermione did not spend any time thinking about Malfoy. She had gotten another letter from Hogwarts declaring she had been chosen as Head Girl. Harry and Ron beamed at the (what they thought, rather obvious) news, and Hermione shined with secret pride. She began to walk with a certain grace, deciding to carry less than half a dozen books with her at all times, and invested in a Muggle product called "mousse," which although was no miracle worker, allowed Hermione to manage her monstrosity of a mane a little more. Soon it was September 1st, and they had arrived to Hogwarts.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Hermione was relieved that their headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was ready to begin the feast before his usual speech, and at once mounts of mashed potatoes, roast beef and chicken legs appeared on the four house tables. Hermione began to spoon peas onto her plate.

When she finally looked up, Hermione was horrified. From across the Great Hall, Blaise Zabini was licking his butter knife and soon making other obscene gestures with it, all while staring directly at Hermione.

Hermione blushed furiously and looked down at her plate. Was Zabini actually looking at _her?_ Hermione's mind reeled until she came to the conclusion that Zabini had been forced to make these odd movements by a certain group of Slytherins. Hermione tried to subtly look up again, moving her head only slightly, only to see a cheeky Zabini wink at her. Mortified, Hermione kept her eyes on her plate for the rest of the evening.

After the dishes had been cleared (much to the irritable Ron), Dumbledore began his usual speech of forbidden areas.

"Prefects," the headmaster said, "Must be extra careful with anyone trying to cause any trouble this year," he warned, and his eyes flickered to the Slytherin table.

"And finally," Dumbledore continued, "It is my great pleasure to introduce you to your new Head Boy and Girl, Hermione Granger of Gryffindor," (the hall burst into applause), "and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

The Great Hall swarmed with surprised chattering, and Ernie Macmillan flushed a deep purple. He evidently, was furious at not being named Head Boy. Hermione tried to avoid looking at the Slytherin table, but after a few moments of their cheers towards Malfoy, Hermione forgot herself and looked straight at the Slytherin Prince himself. Malfoy was looking very proud of himself indeed, and began blowing kisses at random, much to the disgust of the Gryffindor males.

"I think that'll do for tonight," Dumbledore said with a smile, "Now off to bed! Prefects, if you please…" he trailed, as the Prefects began to herd the first years out of the Great Hall.

"And Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy up here to Professor McGonagall."

Hermione made her way up to the staff table, fuming silently, while Malfoy took his time, bowing to anyone who grimaced at him. Harry and Ron had made no comment, expecting to be filled in by Hermione the next day.

"Chop chop, Mr Malfoy, I'd like to be done here before midnight," McGonagall said. Malfoy reached the front and stood beside Hermione.

"As you know, the Head Boy and Girl share a common room leading to two separate dormitories, and although I know you both well enough not to have to say so, I must still warn you that it should be kept that way," McGonagall said sternly. Neither Hermione nor Malfoy made any indication of hearing her.

"Your duties will revolve around nightly patrols of the castle as usual, as well as over-seeing the Prefects," McGonagall continued, "and may I remind you that being a Head is a great honor, and it would do you both well to recognize this and therefore not to do anything that might jeopardize your position." Hermione nodded fervently, Malfoy smirked.

"Well then, good night," McGonagall said curtly, "Your common room is on the fourth floor, behind the portrait of the King and Queen. The password is 'House Elf'." And without giving Hermione a moment to ponder at the password, McGonagall hurried out of the Great Hall.

"Well, this will be interesting," Hermione said meekly, turning to Malfoy. Malfoy raised his eyebrows, and they both left the Great Hall.

Out in the Entrance Hall were Ron and Harry. It seemed they decided against waiting until tomorrow to talk to Hermione.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, "Merlin, I am so sorry you have to-"

"Draco, Draco, Draco," came a silky voice. They all turned to see Blaise Zabini walking towards Malfoy, his tanned skin illuminated by the soft light.

"Now remember this doesn't change anything," he said, looking quite indiscreetly at Hermione. Malfoy rubbed his hand against his chin, and Zabini left, making his way to the dungeons.

"What-"

"Hm, Potter and Weasley. Don't you two realize you should be in bed?" Malfoy asked lazily. "Yes well, let me see; that'll be ten points from Gryffindor for Potter, and another ten for Weasley," he said smugly, and immediately the rubies from the Gryffindor hourglass nearby disappeared accordingly.

Ron and Harry began to loudly protest, but Malfoy interrupted again, "Oh yes, and add five for Granger, just because she's easy on the eyes," he said carelessly. Five rubies returned.

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to process everything that had just happened.

"No, sorry, I can't deal with this right now," she decided finally, and walked away from all three of them, leaving Harry and Ron with their mouths open while Malfoy grinned insolently.

IIIII

Hermione reached the portrait of the King and Queen. They were sitting on two thrones, both with empty expressions. With distaste she noticed the king to be fair haired and the queen to be a brunette.

"House Elf," she sighed. The portrait swung open and Hermione found herself in a large square room, snug with a fire lit in the fireplace, a large, wooden table with matching chairs, a couch and two armchairs: one gold and one silver. Hermione turned ecstatic when she saw the corner of the room occupied by a large shelf of books and a small portrait of Harry's friend, Dobby. Deciding she'd rather avoid Malfoy at the moment (if not forever), Hermione walked up the steps and turned to the door on her left. Her bedroom had a four poster bed, just like those in the dormitories, though there was also a vanity and another door which presumably led to a washroom. Not wanting to think about sharing a bathroom with Malfoy, Hermione collapsed on her bed and fell asleep instantly after closing her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE: THE FIRST PATROL**

So this is what Malfoy had known: that both he and Hermione would be Head Boy and Girl. Hence his warning for her to be "friendly," come September. Hermione walked back to her common room after her first day of classes, passing by a group of Slytherins, which included Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy.

"Have you seen the girls around here?" Nott said incredulously. He let out a low whistle.

"Even the Mudbloods are looking good this year," Mafoy said, smirking at the tops of Hermione' thighs.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment but did not stop walking, and passed by the Slytherins as if they were merely a group of third year Hufflepuffs. She reached the common room and slumped on the golden armchair, plopping a book onto her lap. She heard the portrait swing open but pretended she hadn't.

Malfoy swooped in behind her. "Don't you have anything better to do than read these God-awful books all the time, Granger?" he asked, and pulled the book away from her. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned around in her armchair to face him.

"And what is it you, exactly? Just give it back."

Malfoy looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, I don't think I will," he said, and began to walk in the direction of their bathroom. Hermione glared at him.

"If you really wanted it, you would come and get it," he cooed suggestively. Hermione tried to count to 10 internally before responding, but was interrupted at 6-

"Oh, come on, Muddie, don't you want to see if the rumours are true?" Malfoy glanced at his crotch and then raised an eyebrow.

"Listen, ferret boy," Hermione said coolly, getting up from her seat, "I would rather be burned at the stake."

Malfoy shrugged. "You'd have to be a witch to be burned at the stake though, not a silly little Mudblood like yourself," and with a final grin he shut the door in her face, her book still with him. Hermione heard the shower being turned on.

Furious, Hermione plucked another book from the grand bookshelf and sat down in her armchair once again, flipping each page rather roughly. After about twenty minutes Malfoy emerged from the bathroom, a towel slung around his waist, and a small one being shuffled through his hair. Hermione continued to read.

"Reading again?" he said, amused. When Hermione did not answer he walked over and stood right in front of her. Her eyes were now level with the front of his towel, which looked dangerously close to slipping.

"It looks just as small as I've heard," Hermione lied calmly, arching an eyebrow at Malfoy. Malfoy grinned but did not move. After several tense seconds, Hermione grew irritable.

"Get that thing away from me," she said, pushing him away by the stomach. Malfoy laughed and unwrapped the towel, revealing a massive hard on.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, I SAID GET IT AWAY FROM ME-"

"Ah. Well, you see Granger, I thought you were referring to my towel. You should really be more clear about these matters. One of us could end up…embarrassed," he said softly. He wrapped the towel around his waist again. Hermione was red in the face but he seemed quite unperturbed.

Hermione stood up, about to leave to her bedroom and said, "Well at least I know you're happy to see me, ferret boy."

Malfoy winked. "Ah, yes, the wand chooses the witch, Miss Granger," he said croakily, his eyes bulging as he imitated the old and fragile wandmaker, Ollivander.

Hermione raised an eyebrow to both the cruel impersonation and the innuendo. "You are some new kind of disgusting, Malfoy. Congratulations, you've truly outdone yourself." And with that she stalked to her door haughtily and shut it with a slam.

"Don't forget it's you and me tonight for night patrolling," Malfoy yelled.

IIIII

Hermione came down from her bedroom four hours later. It was now 10PM and she knew that despite hating Malfoy, she had a reputation to upkeep, and that meant fulfilling her responsibilities as Head Girl.

"Where exactly do we have to patrol tonight?" Malfoy asked from the couch. He had changed into dark pants and an emerald green v-neck sweater. Hermione felt slightly embarrassed for still being in her robes.

"Just the fifth floor, no one's supposed to be wandering around there according to Professor McGonagall."

The two of them exited through the portrait and made their way to the nearest stair case. As they walked up, Hermione missed the trick step and felt herself falling until two strong arms pulled her up before her leg fell all the way through.

"Careful now," Malfoy said softly, "Who are you, Longbottom?" Hermione ignored this comment and continued her way up the stairs.

When they reached the fifth floor they made a left, and walked silently for a few minutes.

"What is-"

"OOOOOH, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE," came the voice of Peeves, the school's Poltergeist.

"Oh great, it's Peev-"

"THE GRYFFINDOR PRINCESS AND THE SLYTHERIN PRINCE. HAVE YOU SLITHERED INTO HER CHAMBER OF SECRETS YET, BLONDIE?"

Malfoy snorted. "Come here," he whispered to Hermione, and motioned to the right, where a line of armour stood.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO UPTO SO LATE AT NIGHT? NOT ENOUGH PRIVACY IN YOUR PRIVATE COMMON ROOM? "

"Let's go!" Malfoy hissed, and grabbing Hermione's arm, the two began running. Peeves swooped in on them, and frightened, Hermione ran straight into one of the suits of armors, causing a thunderous crash. Peeves laughed and disappeared.

"Oh no, oh no, we'll have woken up half the castle by now," Hermione said, jumping anxiously from foot to foot.

"Hey, I think you dropped something- _lumos_," Malfoy said.

To Hermione's horror she saw that what had fallen out of her pocket were three purple condoms. Praying that Malfoy didn't understand what these were in the Muggle world, Hermione scooped them up hurriedly, but not before Malfoy grabbed the last one.

"Latex…" he murmured to himself quietly, "Hey, what are these-" Malfoy's eyes widened as he mouthed the word "contraceptive."

"Granger, are these-"

"Yes! Alright, they are!" she hissed, "Now let's get out of here before someone-Filch-"

Malfoy laughed. "But Granger, surely you know you can just perform a simple contraceptive spell for protection-"

"Oh, I'd bet you have loads of experience with those," Hermione snarled, and grabbing the last packet from Malfoy, shoved it into her robes.

"I just wanted-well, just in case, final year, you know," Hermione mumbled. Malfoy's eyes widened with interest.

"Now what do we have here," came a new voice. It was slow and the speaker's face became illuminated by the lantern he was holding.

"Head Boy and Girl, out of bed?" he continued nastily, "we are in trouble, aren't we?"

Malfoy smirked. "We were patrolling the corridors, you bumbling-"

"AND I SUPPOSE MAKING ENOUGH RACKET TO REVIVE THE DEAD IS PART OF YOUR DUTIES," Filch yelled.

"Well, to be frank," Malfoy started, "I think you're making enough noise to-"

"BED. NOW," Filch relented. Hermione and Malfoy spun on their heels and made their way back into their common room.

"Tonight was interesting," Malfoy said, venom dripping from his voice. Hermione began to fret, wondering who he'd tell first about the condoms. She nodded shortly and went straight to bed, leaving Malfoy alone in the middle of the common room, looking at the spot she had been just standing in.


	4. Chapter 4

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just noticed I've been spelling "Zabini" as "Zambini"... HOW EMBARRASSING. Forgive me. Also, I don't have a succinct idea of where this story is going yet, though I have a few ideas for plotlines so please stay along for the ride! AND NONE OF YOU ARE SHY TO FAVOURITE/FOLLOW, BUT ARE TOO BASHFUL TO REVIEW. WHAT IS THIS, GUYS, I NEED CRITICISM. Okay, enjoy, my babies :D

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**CHAPTER FOUR: A BET**

Hermione pounded her head lightly on her bedroom door. This was becoming a morning routine, every day before she encountered Malfoy. It appeared he had gone for breakfast by the time she had left her dormitory, however. Hermione brought as many books as she could carry with her to the Great Hall, planning to head to the library with Harry and Ron after breakfast. She sat down in between them.

"Morning," she said a bit grudgingly.

"Hello, hello," Ron said happily, "thought you had forgotten about us."

"Of course not," Hermione said brightly, and helped herself to some scrambled eggs and toast. "We're still on for the library today, right boys?"

Ron's face darkened, "Er…"

"Hermione, we actually have Quidditch practice today," Harry said, looking into her eyes with shame.

"What? But Harry! You're Quidditch captain, you make the training schedule! You know we made plans-we have loads of homework already, Snape-"

"I know, I know," Harry said glumly, "but today's the only day the rest of the team agreed to do it. It shouldn't take too long, and we'll still have time for school work tomorrow," he finished with a small smile.

Hermione nodded and smiled weakly back. She'd go to the library regardless, hoping to avoid Malfoy for as long as possible. It was a tad pathetic, but at least she'd be able to get work done.

IIIII

At the library, Hermione sat at her usual table by the Restricted Section alone, taking breaks from scribbling furiously to stare at the book shelves in front of her. Her stomach grumbled loudly. Muttering to herself, Hermione searched her bag for something to tide her over before dinner (she had missed lunch), and found a chocolate frog. The packet was a bit ruffled but Hermione immediately stuffed it into her mouth, grateful.

A few seconds later, a sharp piece of the chocolate had lodged itself in Hermione's throat, and her eyes began to water. She tried to keep swallowing but the chocolate remained stuck as ever. Now slightly panicking, Hermione turned pink as she attempted to cough out the chocolate.

Zabini appeared from behind the bookshelves. "What the-here drink this," he said, and shoved a silver flask in her hands. Hermione gulped the liquid quickly and finished it, the chocolate melting slightly and dislodging itself from her throat.

"Thank-you!" she said. Zabini grinned excitedly.

"You're…very good looking," Hermione said, a warmth buzzing inside of her and spreading to her fingers and toes.

"I think I want…I want you. Let's go to my room. Blaise, I love you!" Hermione cried, and swung her arms around Blaise's neck. He grinned ecstatically and nuzzled her neck. Hermione swooned and cried with pleasure.

Madam Pince, the librarian, swooped in on them. "_What-do-you-think-you-are-doing,_" she hissed, and pried Hermione off Zabini. "This is a library, not some common brothel! Out! OUT!"

Hermione and Zabini hurried out of the library, Hermione giggling and clutching onto Zabini's hand. They were halfway down the corridor when they ran into Malfoy.

"Blaise, Granger? What-"

"Malfoy listen, this is important," Hermione said urgently, "We need the common room to ourselves tonight, me and Blaise," she shot Blaise a look of utter lust. Malfoy grimaced before looking from Zabini to Hermione and making a little connection.

"Oh, really?" he said calmly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Blaise?"

Zabini began acting a bit nervous, but tried to cover it up with a strong "It's true," before Hermione screamed, "BLAISE I LOVE YOU. LET'S GO, PLEASE, PLEASE, I CAN'T TAKE IT, I NEED YOU. KISS ME."

Zabini looked a bit horrified as Hermione threw herself at him, tugging at his robes. Malfoy came up to them and discreetly reached into Zabini's robes, pulling out the silver flask.

"Love potion? Really, Blaise?" Malfoy said, with a slight smirk. "Well, I'm sorry mate, but rules are rules and your time is up. Getting that desperate, huh?" Malfoy grinned.

Blaise grinned innocently and shrugged.

"Ugh, next time try using Amortentia, you've got the cheap stuff, just look at her," Malfoy said, gesturing at Hermione. She was now sitting on the floor, drooling open-mouthed, while staring at Zabini.

"Draco, can you do something with her? I don't know my way around antidotes-"

"You know, this is technically your problem," Malfoy said, and then sighed. "Come on Granger, come on, let's go get you ready for your hot date with Blaise tonight."

Hermione squealed. "Why can't Blaise come? He can watch me change, it's no problem," she said, her eyes twinkling over at Blaise. Malfoy snorted and half pulled, half dragged Hermione back into their common room.

IIIII

"Here, drink this," Malfoy said, and handed Hermione a small black flask after several moments of rummaging through his trunk. Hermione sat on his bed and obeyed. When she had finished she looked at Malfoy, her eyes widening slowly.

"What did I? But…how…No, no I didn't…_Did you slip Blaise that love potion?" _Hermione stuttered, furious as tonight's memories in the library flooded to her.

"No," Malfoy said, truthfully.

"But then, why-"

"Oh, Granger, think. Hm, why would Blaise try to slip you a love potion?" Malfoy asked mockingly, "Who usually does that kind of thing? Maybe someone who's in love and wants the other person to love them back?" Malfoy raised his eyebrows as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Malfoy, please. How daft do you think I am? I'd have to be absolutely thick to believe…." Hermione's voice trailed off. In a matter of seconds she had pulled out her wand and cursed Malfoy, who was now being bound by invisible ropes.

"Wow, Muddie, this is really showcasing a new side to you," Malfoy said, cocking an eyebrow, "though I think one usually takes off a person's clothes before binding them."

Hermione ignored him. "Do you have some kind of bet going on with the Slytherins?" She asked suddenly, clenching her teeth.

"Wha-"

"Of course!" Hermione said loudly, a blur of thoughts colliding, "You told Blaise his time was up, he tried to use a love potion on me, and on the first day he said _'This doesn't change anything' _when he found out we'd be sharing a common room." Hermione began to pace back and forth.

"But then…what were you…were you betting on who could shag me?" Hermione whispered hoarsely, her hair curling wildly around her face.

"Er, not exactly.." but Hermione had tightened the ropes around Malfoy.

She snorted. "What's the prize? Let me guess - about ten galleons? You guys are really sick, you know that? Merlin, I can't believe any of you idiots thought you had a chance."

Malfoy tried to say something but Hermione magicked a piece of tape on his mouth.

"Hm. Yes. Yes, well, I'll have to think of something now, haven't I?" Hermione said, mumbling mostly to herself, while Malfoy tried to give her his best bedroom eyes so that she'd untie him.


	5. Chapter 5

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews, ahaha :3 I hope you guys like this chapter, I want to make the next one nice and juicy, as well as M-worthy.

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**CHAPTER FIVE: HALLOWEEN**

"Are you coming to Hogsmeade, Muddie?" Draco asked, buttoning the last buttons on his shirt in the common room.

"No, I think I'll get some work done here," Hermione replied, not looking up from her book, "There's still the feast, anyway," she said. It was Halloween.

Malfoy looked at her, exasperated. "Schoolwork again? How can you think of such things when it's Halloween?"

"Merlin's pants, Malfoy! Why does it matter? Why do you care? I want to get work done and I'm going to get work done. _Good. Bye_." She said, and hurried to her dormitory, slamming the door.

"Merlin's pants?" Malfoy said to himself, amused.

IIIII

But Hermione was not going to be studying or doing homework, which she had of course already finished. Instead she would think and plan the details of her scheme against Malfoy. What kind of revenge would be best suited for someone in his position? She wondered if she should let the Slytherins believe she had slept with Malfoy so that he could win, and then perhaps blackmail him into leaving Harry and Ron alone. Not yet satisfied however, Hermione decided to muse some more.

IIIII

Walking along Hogsmeade with Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy stepped into Honeydukes. Perhaps getting Hermione a little gift would perk her up, and maybe even get her feeling a bit closer to him. The other Slytherins didn't know Hermione was now aware of the bet, and Malfoy decided to keep that to himself for the time being. He had a feeling he could still win. Malfoy wondered what kind of candy Hermione would like, and gazed up at little packages containing fairy sugar. He was stowing away his purchase when he heard his name being called.

"Draco!" came the voice of Blaise, a few feet away in the sweet shop. "Can I have a word?" he asked cheekily. Malfoy agreed and separated himself from Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well," Blaise said softly, looking at the ground, as the two of them walked to the other side of the village. "Does she know anything?"

"She knows about the bet," Malfoy said, glancing around to see if anyone was within earshot, "but not about anything else."

Blaise nodded. "Alright, you should probably keep it that way," he said, and the two of them continued walking silently, slowly making their way to the school grounds.

IIIII

The Great Hall was decorated in streamers of orange, black and purple. Set out on the four house tables were skulls, spider webs, trick buttons that screamed when you pushed them, and little droplets of red liquid that suspiciously looked like blood. Sweets had been set out, and everyone was enjoying themselves immensely. Once the feast was over, people started to mill out of the Great Hall slowly.

"Hey Hermione, want to come back to the Gryffindor common room for a bit," Ron asked, "there's going to be a little after party."

Hermione smiled but shook her head. "No thanks, guys. I think I'll just get some rest, especially since ferret boy will most likely be celebrating in the dungeons." She yawned. "I hope the Prefects don't let anyone get too rowdy…" Ron raised an eyebrow and laughed, and him and Harry said goodnight to Hermione on the stairs.

Hermione walked over to the portrait of the King and Queen. "House Elf," she said, smiling.

The Queen moved her head over only slightly.

"I'm sorry," she said, and the portrait remained closed.

"Er, what?" Hermione asked. The King in the portrait raised his eyebrows.

"The password has been changed," he boomed.

"Oh, just great," Hermione spat. She had forgotten her and Malfoy had the ability to change the password of their own portrait.

"Alright, erm…is it _Pureblood_?"

The Queen shook her head.

"_Slytherin? Slytherin rules? Toujours pur_?" but the Queen continued to shake her head.

"Now see here, Miss," the King said gruffly, "You can't just guess any word you please, we don't have all day to-"

The portrait swung open. Malfoy emerged, looking pleased to see Hermione.

"Ah, haven't figured out the new password? I thought it'd be obvious."

Hermione glared at him.

"It's _Hermione Malfoy_, just so you know for next time."

"Have you gone ma-"

"Oh, don't mind us, we simply adore facing this blank wall," shouted the King. Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled the portrait as her and Malfoy walked into the common room.

Hermione rounded on Malfoy. "_Hermione Malfoy_? What the hell is that about?" she snapped.

"What if someone actually hears me uttering that foul-and this isn't going to help you with your stupid little bet either, you idiot," Hermione huffed.

"Hermione Malfoy sounds better than Hermione Weasley," Malfoy said simply.

Hermione began to rub her temples while Malfoy grinned in response.

"Here, Granger, I got you something," Malfoy said, and took out a bag of sweets wrapped in pink and gold. Hermione looked at the little bundle suspiciously.

"And how do I know that-"

"Don't worry, it's not laced with anything," Malfoy read her thoughts, "think of it as an apology." When Hermione continued to look skeptical Malfoy shoved the sweets into her hands, laughing.

"It's chocolate with fairy sugar," he said, while she eyed the package, now with curiosity. "It makes the eater feel like they're flying," he continued, "and it was made without testing on house-elves."

Hermione looked up at him. "Thank-you," she said curtly, but Malfoy would've been prepared to make a bet that she had slipped him a little smile.


	6. Chapter 6

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, more reviews! And to think I thought this story would suck…thank-you for all the favourites/follows/feedback :D Now where were we? Oh yes, I have a couple of more surprises up my sleeve, but I'm ready to reveal one of them to you in this chapter. Hopefully you enjoy it, I know I did :) Also, this is the first "M" chapter so to speak, so please avoid it if you aren't into lemons!

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX: SLITHER IN**

Malfoy found his thoughts gravitating towards anything that did not concern History of Magic, the class he was currently in. His eyes drifted to Hermione, who was sitting a few seat in front of him, diagonally. Ron was sitting beside her and kept looking over his shoulder to find Malfoy staring at his friend, and would grumble to himself furiously every time he turned to face the front again. Malfoy smirked.

Hermione's legs were crossed and instead of sitting alert, hand forever waving madly in the air, she seemed to be doodling something lazily, her hand holding up her chin. Malfoy wondered what she could be thinking about. He looked back down at her crossed legs and sighed to himself.

IIIII

"Hey Granger, do you think you could help me out with this question?" Draco asked as nonchalantly as he could from his armchair in the common room. Hermione was looking through the various books on the shelves. She turned around, eyed him suspiciously for a moment, and then came beside him, peering at the History of Magic practice questions he was attempting to answer.

Hermione frowned. "That's not right," she said, pointing to a question, "the Goblin Rebellion happened for the first time in 1604," she continued, but Malfoy wasn't listening. He looked at her hand in front of his, smelled the scent of her Muggle, although pleasant, perfume, and tried very hard not to imagine how soft her hair must feel. Feeling slightly repulsed, he grinned, "Alright, thanks Muddie."

"Oh, back to that, are we?" she said, and slumped into her golden armchair angrily. "Muddie is no better than Mudblood," she retorted.

"Aw, what're you talking about? It's much cuter," Draco said with a smile.

Hermione remained emotionless.

"Malfoy, why don't you just lie and say you and I-you know," Hermione said, turning a bit pink. Malfoy looked at her, puzzled.

"Well, I mean, why haven't you just asked me to lie for you, in return for something?" she continued.

"Because I think I can win without cheating," Malfoy said seductively, and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt without much subtlety.

Hermione snorted.

"That's not very ladylike," Malfoy said. Hermione's jaw dropped at the insult and her cheeks burned.

"But I'm still turned on," Malfoy reassured her. Hermione laughed. Soon she could not stop. Malfoy looked at her, half in amusement, half in exasperation.

"Er," he said. But Hermione kept on laughing, and finally had to lie down on the sofa. Malfoy got up from his armchair and stood over Hermione, staring at her until her laughs subsided.

"Finished?"

Hermione broke the silence with a giggle and then nodded. And then much to Malfoy's surprise, she pulled him on the couch on top of her.

"Granger, what-"

"I don't want you to win the bet…yet," she said softly, and Malfoy tried not to gulp while looking into her warm, brown eyes, "But, we can do…some things," she finished suggestively.

Malfoy stroked her cheek with his thumb, and then bent his head towards hers and kissed her. He immediately felt elated, as though he had been waiting forever to crush his lips onto hers, to feel her sweet breath mingle with his. He slid his tongue in her mouth and she began to suck on it. Malfoy wondered how far she had gone with Viktor Krum.

"Take off your pants," Hermione said, pulling away from Malfoy at last. He raised his eyebrows. "Please," she grinned.

He stood up from the couch and stripped to his silky blue boxers.

"No green and silver? Malfoy, I'm surprised," she said mockingly. Malfoy grinned and slid off her tights, revealing her smooth legs and green underwear.

"No red and gold?" Malfoy smirked, "Though I am flattered at your wearing my House's colours," he grinned before taking off her shirt and throwing it dramatically across the room. It fell on the portrait of Dobby. Laughing at how it was probably Dobby's greatest dream to have a shirt thrown on him, Malfoy and Hermione kissed again. Then he looked at her very seriously.

"Take it off," Hermione said, looking at his boxers.

"You first," he whispered, and slowly, teasingly, began to pull down her underwear. When he pulled it to her ankles, Malfoy saw a wet stain on them, and hungrily kissed her thighs. He blew on her cunt lightly, until she moaned. Then he pressed his mouth on her, licking slowly until he felt she was ready. He began to lick faster, and then let his tongue go in and out of her, until circling her clit while he gently put a finger in her before pounding it in. Hermione's legs shook out of pleasure until she came, one arm in her hair, the other on her stomach while she breathed heavily. Malfoy put his hand on hers and touched her fingers lightly.

But Hermione knew he must be rock hard and throbbing. She got off the couch and pushed him on it so that he was sitting, and took off his boxers. His cock sprung out and it was as hard as the first time she had seen it. She began to play with his balls, squeezing lightly and letting them roll in her hands. She licked the head of his cock. Malfoy closed his eyes at the tease, and opened them to see Hermione taking off her bra. Her breasts bounced lightly as the bra came off, her light nipples erect.

She licked his shaft all around, and circled the spot underneath his balls. Then she put her mouth on his cock and began to suck. Malfoy stared at her intently, looking into her eyes and grabbing her breasts. Hermione began to suck harder and faster, her hand moving all around his shaft until he came. Then he pulled her onto his lap.

"That was…"

"The wand chooses the witch, Miss Granger," he breathed into her hair.

IIIII

"Damn. Draco...well, _damn_," Theodore Nott repeated in Charms class, after hearing Malfoy's account of the night before. The two of them were trying to turn frogs into kittens.

"I swear to God, Nott, if you tell anyone-"

"Jesus, I won't," Nott replied. "Did you want me to promise? Perhaps make an…Unbreakable Vow?"

"Shit. I know," Malfoy said, running his hands through his white gold hair. "What am I supposed to do? What if I can't make her…you know."

Nott looked at Malfoy closely. "You're not worried, are you?"

Malfoy said nothing.

"Jesus, Draco listen. Granger's a good girl, she wouldn't let-"

"She doesn't know," Malfoy said quietly.

Nott dropped the frog he was holding, "Are you out of your-"

"It would only make things worse!" Malfoy hissed. "You think she's going to fall in love with me after finding out I made an _Unbreakable Vow_? She'll hate me and I'll croak by the end of June."

"So what does she think," Nott said, picking up his frog, "that you're having a bet with the Slytherins?"

"Basically. Except she thinks it's a contest on who can shag her first."

Nott stood, dumbfounded. "Draco, that's not the same, not at all! Even the most pathetic girl can shag without being in love!" Draco said nothing and instead looked at his frog moodily.

"So you're telling me," Nott said in disbelief, "that not only does the Mudblood think this is some silly bet with the Slytherins-instead of a showdown between you and Blaise- she also thinks this is just about you shagging her?"

"Don't call her that. But yes." Malfoy said, his eyes still on his frog.

Nott let out a low whistle. "She won't be in any hurry to fall in love if she thinks that all you want is to shag her for a bet."

"I know," was all Malfoy replied. He looked down in surprise, to find a little grey kitten in front of him.


	7. Chapter 7

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank-you again for all the feedback! You guys spoil me :') Two notes on the reviews: Anonymous, I totally agree that falling in love with someone who calls you cruel names seems stupid, yet it does happen. All the time. Also this is DRAMIONE FANFICTION we're talking about here. Malfoy reforming in the first chapter just isn't realistic. And they're not in love yet, remember? Far from it, or the Vow would've been fulfilled. Now to love-them-all10, I know I didn't mention it previously, I kind of wanted to spring it on readers hence the information on the Unbreakable Vow being brought up in an exchange between Nott and Malfoy.

Now that that's out of the way, we can continue on, because some things are not what they seem…

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**CHAPTER SEVEN: THE VOW**

Although Malfoy was closer to winning Hermione's affections than ever before, he knew she was still far from being in love with him. The days trickled on, and Malfoy began to feel uneasy. He repeated the memory of his Unbreakable Vow with Blaise.

_"Listen, Draco, I know you think you're Salazar's gift to women, but please," Zabini said, smoking a cigarette. It was a lazy summer day in the middle of June. "You think you can make any Hogwarts girl fall for you?"_

_ Malfoy looked at him, "Why do you smoke that thing, Blaise? It's for Mugg-"_

_ "Answer," Zabini interjected. Theodore Nott shook his head at Zabini's words and grinned to himself._

_ "Yes, then," Draco said._

_ "Really?" Zabini pressed. "Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood?"_

_ Malfoy snorted. "The lady weasel could be mine with a snap of my fingers, and you don't need Veritaserum to know Lovegood would be down."_

_ "And what about Granger?" Zabini asked, squinting as smoke drifted near his eyes._

_ "The Mudblood? The hell would I want her to fall in love with me for-"_

_ "Who knows? That's not my question though. Could – you – make – her – love – you?" Zabini asked. He was staring as Malfoy intently now, no trace of a smile on his face._

_ "Yes," Malfoy said warningly, indicating the conversation was over._

_ But Zabini continued, "Then do it."_

_ "Fine."_

_ "Make the Unbreakable Vow?"_

_ Malfoy swore. "The Unbreakable Vow? Zabini are you f-"_

_ Zabini laughed and threw away his cigarette. "Knew you couldn't do it."_

_ Malfoy thought intently for a moment. Hating himself, he resigned. _

"_Fine."_

_ Nott had been quiet during the entire exchange, but now made a noise to remind them he was still there._

_ "Right then – Theo, you'll be our Bonder."_

_ Malfoy and Zabini grabbed each other's arm, while Nott hurried to them with his wand raised._

_ "Do you, Draco Malfoy, promise to make Hermione Granger fall in love with you?" Zabini asked. There was cold hate in his eyes._

_ "Yes," Malfoy replied._

_ "And do you accept this challenge: that you have one year to make her fall in love with you, and that if you fail you will die?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "And finally," Zabini continued, to the surprise of both Nott and Malfoy, "Do you accept that if you fail….she dies as well?"_

_ There was silence. Malfoy was about to refuse, but then images of Granger floated through his mind – her slapping him in third year, how close she was to Potter, the way she looked at Weasley – and a burst of anger shot through him._

_ "Yes."_

_ Streams of what looked like liquid fire shot out of Nott's wand around Zabini and Malfoy's intertwined arms, connecting them. And as soon as they had appeared, they were gone._

_ "One year," Zabini said, before turning and walking away._

Malfoy ran his hands through his hair. How could he have been so arrogant? Not only would he die from his idiocy, but Granger would die as well. Not that he particularly cared, he forcefully reminded himself, but she was still an innocent person in the equation. Malfoy slammed his Potions book. Homework would have to wait. He pondered about telling Hermione what he had done. She was smart; she probably knew a loophole of some sort, maybe something the Ministry could handle. But he knew she would never forgive him, so leaving that option as a last resort, he opened his Potions book again.

Hermione walked through the portrait into their common room.

"Oh, hello," she said awkwardly, as if not expecting Malfoy to be there for some reason.

"Granger, do you think you'd ever fall in love with me?" Malfoy asked, smiling at her in encouragement. He expected her to drop her books and stutter, flustered, but instead she raised an eyebrow.

"That's like expecting me to get lower than an 'Outstanding' on an exam," she answered smugly.

"Wow, a little conceited, are we?" Malfoy said in surprise. Hermione shrugged.

"Why are you asking?" she asked suspiciously. "I'm not going to fall in love with you and shag you just so you can win a bet. You can afford to lose ten galleons, ferret boy."

"Okay, you need to stop calling me that. I stopped with the M word-"

"Yes, because that's remotely the same," Hermione said sarcastically.

A line in Malfoy's face tightened.

"Hermione?" Came a voice from outside the common room. It was Ron.

"_What is he doing here?_" Malfoy asked coldly.

"We're going for a walk," Hermione said with purpose.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because he's my friend?"

"Is Potter tagging along?"

"No."

"So, it's just you and the Weasel."

"That's right."

"I don't like that."

"You don't have to." Hermione said bluntly. "My, I didn't know ferrets were capable of jealousy."

"Does your little boyfriend know the password to the portrait hole?" Malfoy retorted. "_Why don't you tell him what it is?_" he probed through gritted teeth.

Hermione seethed, "_Why don't you kill yourself?_"

Malfoy was silent. Fear ebbed in him. Suicide was one way to end the Unbreakable Vow. If Malfoy was dead the vow would automatically be broken. Had Hermione found out? But then he realized it was impossible, she was only being cruel.

"Just go," he said, slumping himself into an armchair, but Hermione was already on her way out. She opened the door to a startled Ron.

"Hermione- I heard yelling-" but he was cut off by the slam of the portrait.

* * *

A/N: Ahhh, was gonna add some more but I've decided to be a tease! I hope you are all ashamed of Malfoy's reckless behaviour. My my, this was supposed to be a story focusing on Malfoy being nothing but mean, but now I've got an actual plot on my hands.

PS Do you guys think I need funnier lines? Tell me what you think :D


	8. Chapter 8

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Omg you guys are great. Can't tell if you're hating on Malfoy or on me, ahaha. At least my writing is bringing upon so much emotion :') None of you guys have picked up on the reasoning behind Blaise's past behaviour with the love potion yet though! Or perhaps you didn't want to offend me? Haha, well a couple of more things unravel in this chapter. Also, I've started calling Blaise Zabini by his first name because, well whatever. Let me know what you think! ^_^

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**CHAPTER EIGHT: THE ASTRONOMY TOWER**

Malfoy brooded on the third floor. Hermione was late for patrolling, which was unlike her. Malfoy did not very much like patrolling at all (especially when there were no first years to bully), and specifically without any company. He took his hands out of his pockets when he heard someone sniffing noisily.

"You there!" Malfoy cried dramatically, seeing the noise was coming from a tiny first year boy, cowering in a corner. He looked up at Malfoy and whimpered.

"What are you doing out of bed, boy?" Malfoy said, crossing his arms.

"I was-it's six o'clock-"

"That's enough. What House are you in? Hufflepuff, I suppose," Malfoy smirked, "And perhaps a detention will do some goo-"

"Gryff-please don't-Mr. Draco-I-my books-" the poor boy mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak Longbottom."

"_Malfoy!_" Hermione came rushing from a corner, spotting Malfoy and the first-year, tears silently streaming down his face.

"Now, now, everything's alright," Hermione said kindly, patting the small boy on the back gently. He gulped and ran away with his books, choking on his tears.

Malfoy snorted. "Excuse me, I was reprimanding that child."

"You were tormenting him, more like!" Hermione said.

Malfoy rolled his eyes and leaned into her, "This is boring, and I'm tired. Can't we just go back to our common room, and relax a little bit," he finished quietly in her ear. A whisper of temptation ran through her, and her pulse quickened.

"You're very moody," Hermione answered. "I'm assuming you got over your little tantrum about Weas-er-Ron," she corrected herself embarrassedly. Malfoy grinned.

"It's impossible to be mad at you," he said.

Hermione opened her mouth to retort when a whistle came from across the corridor. Hermione and Draco turned around to see Blaise crossing the hall loftily.

"Ay mami," he said at Hermione, grinning and popping his collar. Hermione's jaw dropped and she began to laugh hysterically.

Malfoy looked at him questioningly, "Blaise, what're you-"

"It's a common saying, Draco, the Muggle girls love it. Don'tcha Granger," Blaise replied, and shone his very white teeth at Hermione. She stopped laughing and blushed. Furious, Malfoy dragged Zabini away, saying, "See you in the common room, Granger."

IIIII

"What the hell are you doing, exactly, Zabini?" Malfoy said, a gleam in his eyes.

"_Zabini?_ Whoa, whoa, whoa, Draco, let's calm down," Blaise said silkily, "What's the problem?"

"The problem," Draco said, "Is that it's over."

Blaise laughed, "Draco, I was just flirting-"

"Well, don't," Malfoy said shortly. "I have enough on my plate, as you know, Zabini. The Unbreakable Vow? Really?"

"Hey now, you brought that on yourself. No one stuck a wand to your head-"

"If I'm correct," Malfoy interrupted, "After the Unbreakable Vow, you wanted in on a bet yourself. A hundred galleons for Granger's love, if I'm not mistaken?"

Blaise said nothing.

"And I believe," Malfoy continued, "We agreed that any use of force of love –including love potions- automatically ends the bet."

"Yes, that's true…"

"Funny how Granger seemed to know there was a bet though," Malfoy said.

Blaise rounded on him. "Oh, I suppose you think I told her? How would that help me exactly?" Blaise rubbed his left eyebrow. "You just worry about your little task. I'll quit flirting with the girl if it bothers you so much," he finished with a smirk.

"Glad we understand each other," Malfoy slapped Blaise's back good-naturedly and made his way to his common room. Blaise swore under his breath.

IIIII

Malfoy reached the portrait hole and smirked to himself that Hermione had yet to change the password from "Hermione Malfoy." He opened the portrait to see her at the table, doodling dreamily.

"What are you constantly doodling?"

Hermione looked up at him in surprise. "Hermione Malfoy," she said with heavy sarcasm. Malfoy raised an eyebrow. Hermione brushed away some hair, with satisfaction. Malfoy watched her.

"You know, you're quite good looking," he said, as if mildly discussing the perks of owning Mandragora. Hermione moved her hand from her hair to her collarbone and walked up to Malfoy, swaying her hips gently.

"You're better than just good looking," she said softly, putting her arms around his neck. He was surprised, but not shocked, and put his own hands around her waist.

"Is that so?" he asked quietly.

Hermione nodded and raised her head, and he had a glimpse of her honey brown eyes before she pressed her lips onto his. He kissed her back, and felt her tongue on his lower lip. She plucked it with both of hers and then pulled away from the kiss, moving a hand down his chest.

"My Slytherin Prince," she whispered, before retreating to her dormitory. Malfoy rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, wondering if he was supposed to feel a warmth growing in his insides.

IIIII

Hermione fell on her bed and touched her lips. Shaking her head out of any romantic thoughts, she began to rummage through her trunk. Near the bottom she found the two way mirror Harry had given her, the matching half in the boys' dormitory in the North tower. Hermione picked it up in both hands and looked at it directly.

"Harry Potter." She said clearly. At first the mirror continued showing her reflection, but soon the surface began to blur and the face of her friend took its place.

"How'd it go?" he asked quietly. Hermione saw Ron try to fit in the mirror as well, but she could only see profile, his eye staring at her beadily.

"Perfectly," she said.

"Alright, meet us at the Astronomy tower in ten minutes."

IIIII

Hermione walked around the top of the Astronomy tower, admiring the gleaming line of golden telescopes projected at the starry sky. She heard a shuffle and turned around cautiously.

"It's us," Ron said, and took off the invisibility cloak that had been concealing him as well as Harry.

Hermione nodded.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, fixing his glasses slightly.

"Yes, are you?" Ron replied seriously. Harry and Hermione gaped at him before laughing.

"And you, Hermione?" Harry continued, to which Hermione shrugged and smiled.

"Well?" Ron said impatiently. "Did you find anything out?"

Hermione made a squeaky sound at the back of her throat. "Ron, it'll take more than a night to figure out if Malfoy is up to something," she snapped exasperatedly.

"We know he had to kill Dumbledore last year, and that Snape was supposed to help him if he couldn't do it. We know that the plan failed. Obviously. We just have to make sure he isn't doing anyth-"

"Harry, don't you think you're getting a little obsessed-"

"_He tried to kill Dumbledore_," Harry said through a clenched jaw. Hermione did not look convinced.

"Alright, alright," she said moodily.

"Hermione, why do you even care?" Ron asked with a suggestive tone, "All you're doing is trying to get a bit close to him to find something out-you share a common room for Merlin's sake- it's not like you have to snog him."

Hermione said nothing. Ron began to turn red.

"And anyway," Harry said hurriedly, "he deserves it with that stupid bet."

"Yes, I was thinking about that," Hermione said slowly, "Do you think there might be something more to it? Malfoy couldn't be that conceited-"

"Yes, he could," Harry and Ron said shortly.

Hermione fell silent, though she felt a twinge in her chest.

"Just get him to open up to you a bit," Harry said finally, throwing the cloak on all three of them, "We still have the Maurader's map, we'll do the rest."

Hermione sighed. "Why couldn't we have just talked through the two way mirror?"

Harry grinned, "Ron wanted to see you."


	9. Chapter 9

AUTHOR'S NOTE: You guys should know by now, that you are the pygmy puffs to my Ginny, the house elves to my Hermione, the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to my Luna. *_* Moving on… no, Draco is no Veela (although he can be quite, er, persuasive, when he wants to be), haha. So in this chapter, we continue the idea that although devilishly handsome, Blaise is really just a prick. Okay, I'm sorry this chapter is a bit short, I just couldn't wait! I may write another one after work tonight, we'll see! Ahhhh, I hope this chapter has you clinging for more! :D

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE: SURPRISE AFTER SURPRISE**

Hermione and Harry left the Great Hall on Saturday morning, laughing, and Hermione felt like everything was as normal as it could get, besides for the fact that Harry had come in for breakfast without Ron. Upon entering the Entrance Hall, the two of them heard raised voices.

Ron and Malfoy were by the stairs, yelling rather poor insults at each other.

"You look like a ferret," Ron taunted. Harry put his hand to his forehead in embarrassment.

"Well, then I guess that makes us family, considering you look like a Weasel," Malfoy retorted.

"At least I don't smell like one," Ron rebounded. Hermione watched the back and forth pityingly.

"No yelling in the corridor," she said abruptly, with an air that reminded the boys of Percy Weasley, "that's five points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin, and you two should know better, a Prefect and Head Boy indeed."

The four of them parted; Harry ushering Ron inside the Great Hall as if he had been a great war veteran, while Malfoy hurried up the stairs behind Hermione.

"Granger! Aren't you even going to say hello?" He asked to her back, "Or did you not see me with your nose stuck so high up in the air-"

"Oh, I saw you," she said calmly, keeping her book to her chest, "I don't mind looking at you really, it's the sounds that come out of your mouth that bother me."

Malfoy grinned and caught up to her, walking beside her, "Granger, you are really cold, you know that?"

Hermione turned her head to look at him with a raised eyebrow, but he said, "I'm actually a bit proud. Do you think I could've had a bit of a hand in this?" Hermione said nothing but smirked in a very Malfoy-like way. They reached the portrait.

"Hermione Malfoy," Malfoy said, looking at Hermione. The Queen looked at Hermione and then back at Malfoy, and shook her head gracefully. Malfoy looked at Hermione questioningly, "Did you-"

"You know, I think I'm going to go to the library instead," Hermione said innocently, but Malfoy grabbed her by the arm before she walked away.

"Darling, surely you're not going to leave me here all by myself without the password?" Malfoy said sweetly.

The King in the portrait looked down at them, "Aho! And what do we have here? Head Boy and Girl together, if I'm not mistaken?" He said nodding, not waiting to be corrected, "Yes, yes, that's the way it should be," he boomed proudly.

"Well, if the password isn't Hermione Malfoy," Malfoy said thoughtfully, ignoring the King altogether, "then it must be Draco Granger!" The King and Queen beamed at him and swung open, allowing Hermione and Malfoy to get to their common room. Malfoy heard the Queen say, "How sweet!"

"How did you-"

"Please, Granger," Malfoy said, putting a hand up as if insulted, "I saw your doodles." Hermione put her book down on the table and sat down. "And?" she asked.

"A bloke taking on a girl's surname? What kind of sorcery is this?" he asked, causing Hermione to laugh. "Does that actually happen in the Muggle world?"

"Sometimes," Hermione said, "And besides, Draco Granger has a wonderful ring to it, don't you think?"

To Hermione's surprise, Malfoy did look as if he was mulling about it thoughtfully, "Yes, it…it does sound quite nice, doesn't it?" Malfoy said, bemused, and sat down as well.

IIIII

Hermione left the library that evening wishing she hadn't eaten so much dinner. Trying to discretely rub her stomach on her way to the common room, she bumped into Blaise Zabini-quite literally- on the fourth floor.

"Looking good, Granger," he said, nodding at her approvingly.

"Blaise, relax. I know some of the Slytherin boys have some bet going on, but do you actually think I'm going to shag you? For ten galleons of all things?" She looked at him like he was a sad little boy. Blaise laughed.

"Granger, I thought you had brains!" he said as her eyes widened a bit in surprise.

"Do you really think that's what happening here," he asked softly, "Have you noticed anyone other than Draco really trying to get into your brain?"

Hermione's mind whizzed around the last couple of weeks, "So, it's just him, then?" she asked slowly.

"Is it something serious? He seems to be acting quite-Blaise, you two didn't do something extremely stupid did you?" she said urgently.

Blaise shrugged. "It's just Malfoy really. I lost my part of the bet a while ago, but that doesn't mean I can't flirt-" he said, and edged himself a little closer to her.

Hermione watched him with apprehension. "Did-you-do-something-stupid," she said brokenly.

Blaise cocked an eyebrow. "If you call an Unbreakable Vow stupid," he said.

Hermione closed her eyes. "Are you really that idiotic?" She asked, opening them again. She shook her head. "Not even Malfoy-"

"Ah, but you forget how proud the Slytherin Prince truly is…"

Hermione snorted. "Shag me or die? He deserves to lose at that rate-"

"Oh, I think you'll find it's a little more complicated than that," Blaise said smoothly. Hermione looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"No, no," he said quietly, "shagging is not enough to break the vow." Hermione pondered over his words, before realizing he was leaning into her, as if waiting for a kiss.

"The Slytherin Prince and Gryffindor Princess, who would have thought?" he asked softly, and gently put his hand in Hermione's hair. "I'm afraid Draco wouldn't like you knowing any of this," he said, and before Hermione got to speak, Blaise took out his wand and breathed in her ear, "_Imperio."_


	10. Chapter 10

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry to leave you hanging! This'll be a nice, juicy chapter though. More serious than the previous ones as well, by the way.

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**CHAPTER TEN: THE IMPERIUS CURSE**

Hermione felt like she was floating in a dream world. Everything seemed airy and vague. Her eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes. She was still on the fourth floor with Blaise.

"Kiss me," Hermione vaguely heard Blaise say. She didn't see any harm in it and so she turned to him and kissed him. He smirked.

"Now, I want you to get the invisibility cloak from Potter and meet me in the Slytherin common room. The password is 'Salazar.' You will not speak to anyone on your way to either common room. Do you understand?" Blaise said.

Hermione's eyes widened as she nodded, and she left, making her way to the Gryffindor common room. She saw Harry alone by the fireplace.

"Hermione, what-"

"I need your invisibility cloak," Hermione said serenely.

"What? Why-"

"It's important," she said simply. Harry ran up to his dormitory and returned with the silvery cloak.

"Do you want me to come with-"

"No, that's not necessary," Hermione smiled, taking the cloak. Without another word she left the common room and made her way to the dungeons. Half way there she began to feel more alert, and threw the cloak over herself. She walked past Ron, who had just emerged from the Great Hall, yawning.

Hermione walked, invisible, in a trance-like state, though she began to feel the haziness blurring. She reached the dungeons and said 'Salazar' to a blank wall. A space in the wall opened up and Hermione entered the Slytherin common room to Blaise hurrying a few second years to their dormitories.

_Something feels strange,_ Hermione thought to herself. Without realizing it, the effects of the Imperius curse were fading as Blaise had not been with her constantly to curse her.

"Take off the cloak," Blaise ordered. Hermione obeyed, though hesitantly. Blaise lifted his wand.

"_Expelliarmus_," he said, and Hermione's wand shot into his left hand. He pocketed it. Hermione frowned.

"_Imperio_," Blaise murmured, and Hermione felt dazed once more. Blaise took the cloak from her.

"You will go to the Owlery and write a letter to Professor McGonagall," he said. "You will explain to her that you are leaving Hogwarts tomorrow morning, to continue your studies in Muggle school. You will instruct the owl to send the letter with the morning post tomorrow. Should anyone speak to you, you will say you are writing a letter to your parents. When you are finished you will return here. Is that clear?"

Hermione nodded and left the Slytherin common room. After a few moments Blaise slipped on the cloak and left as well, heading towards Snape's office.

Hermione reached the Owlery without being stopped by anyone and wrote the letter as instructed. Once she had motioned to the owl nearest her and murmured to give the letter tomorrow morning, she left the Owlery only to run into Malfoy.

"What're you doing here, Mrs Malfoy?" Draco drawled flirtingly.

Hermione smiled. "Sending an owl to my parents," she responded automatically, and began to walk away. She was not followed by Malfoy.

She reached the dungeons and once again began to feel a bit of reality washing over her.

"Salazar," came a firm voice. It was Blaise. The two of them entered the common room, Blaise stuffing the cloak as well as a large vial of clear liquid into his pockets.

"_Imperio_," he said, whipping out his wand.

"You will follow me to my dormitory, covered by the cloak, and fall asleep in the trunk by my bed. You will sleep for eight hours. Nod if you understand."

Hermione nodded, put on the cloak, and followed Blaise to his dormitory. Crabbe, Goyle, and two other boys Hermione did not know the names of were snoring, sound asleep. Blaise opened the trunk at the foot of his bed and Hermione stepped into it before curling up into a ball. Making sure she was completely covered in the cloak, Blaise shut the trunk.

IIIII

Hermione woke up eight hours later, still covered in the invisibility cloak. Blaise had moved her to his bed and used the Imperius curse to prevent her from wriggling or speaking. He looked down at his watch and then pulled the cloak down to her chin. She blinked at him mildly.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. Hermione thought for a moment and then nodded. He handed her a flask of pumpkin juice and a handful of chocolate frogs. Once Hermione was done eating, Blaise asked, "Do you need to use the bathroom?" Hermione nodded again.

Blaise pointed his wand at Hermione, and after uttering "_Imperio_," instructed her to go to the bathroom under the cloak, speak to no one, and return to him right away. She nodded and left.

In the other side of the castle, Professor McGonagall was talking to Harry and Ron seriously in the Great Hall.

"Have you heard of this, boys?" She said, handing them Hermione's letter. Harry and Ron read it silently. When Ron was about to speak Harry nudged him.

"Er yes," Harry said, thinking on the spot, "She was a little upset about an Arithmancy essay the other day, but she should be fine. I don't think she even sent a letter to her parents-stress, you know-"

McGonagall looked at him for a moment before nodding sternly and walking back to the staff table, murmuring "Poor girl," under her breath.

Ron rounded on Harry. "Harry, what the hell is going on? Have you actually seen Hermione? I haven't seen her since yesterday, and she's not here-"

Harry motioned wordlessly for Ron to follow him out into the Entrance Hall, and the two boys got up, oblivious to the following eyes of Draco Malfoy across the room. Malfoy had noticed both Hermione and Blaise's absence and followed Ron and Harry. He heard their hushed voices in the Entrance Hall.

"She took your cloak last night?" Ron asked incredulously. "And she hasn't been seen since? Where do you think she went? Harry, I'm worr-"

Ron fell silent when he saw Malfoy walking towards them.

"Granger wasn't in the common room last night," Malfoy said, and saw the boys' faces turn panic stricken.

Ron looked like he was about to have some sort of attack when he spluttered, "What? Malfoy are you sure? She borrowed Harry's cloak-"

"I saw her last night at the Owlery, she said she was sending an owl to her parents-"

"McGonagall showed us the letter! It said she was leaving Hogwarts to go back home!" Ron cried.

Harry looked at Malfoy intently. If he was not lying, then Hermione could have indeed gone back home to her parents. However, he was not convinced. It was very unlike Hermione, and she seemed strange when she had asked him for the cloak.

Malfoy was thinking along the same lines. "She was acting weird-last night, at the Owlery-"

At that moment Snape appeared in the Entrance Hall and swooped in on the three of them.

"Potter, Weasley, my office. Now." Harry and Ron looked exasperated but followed Snape to his office. Malfoy followed them at a distance before leaving them outside the office to go to the Slytherin common room.

IIIII

"There was something stolen from my private stores last night," Snape said coldly. "Do either of you know what that thing was?"

Ron and Harry both shook their heads, furious at being accused of theft by Snape.

"Veritaserum," Snape said smoothly, though his eyes were filled with rage.

"We didn't take anything-"

"My last vial of the potion," Snape interrupted Harry. "Why would you two require such a potion is beyond me," Snape continued, "But if I find any proof- any whatsoever that you have stolen from me- I will make it my personal mission to expel you both."

Harry and Ron said nothing.

"_Get out_," Snape hissed.

IIIII

Hermione was back in Blaise's dormitory, covered by the cloak and in his opened trunk. She had returned from the bathroom without any problem, and Blaise had once again, put the Imperius curse on her.

From the dormitory, Blaise heard the cold voice of Malfoy in the Slytherin common room. "Is Zabini here?" Malfoy asked.

In a panic, Blaise swiped at Hermione's head, taking off her cloak, muttered "_Obliviate_" at her eyes with his wand. Hermione eyes fluttered delicately while he took out the flask of Veritaserum, performed a vanishing spell on it, and covered Hermione again with the cloak. Closing the trunk and locking it, he busied himself on his bed, pretending to be doing homework when Malfoy stormed in violently.

"Where is she?" he asked quietly.

Blaise raised his eyebrows questioningly but anger erupted in Malfoy. He could sense something was horribly wrong. He took Blaise's wand with the disarming spell and pulled him off the bed, punching him in the eyes and mouth. Blaise was bleeding profusely, and his eyes were very swollen.

"_Stupefy_!" Malfoy cried, and Blaise fell onto the bed, stunned. Malfoy rummaged through the dormitory in a frenzy, before crying "_Alohamora_!" at every trunk in the room. Swiping his hands through all of them, he lightly hit Hermione in the head. Malfoy grabbed at the air and the cloak flew off Hermione, revealing her, with a mild expression on her face.

"Granger! Are you alright?"

Hermione was silent for a moment. "Where am-what-"

Malfoy saw Blaise stirring on his bed.

"_Stupefy_!" Malfoy shouted at Blaise again, and he slumped on the bed. Malfoy held his hand out to Hermione who accepted it, and helped her out of the trunk. He threw the invisibility cloak over them and left Blaise in the dormitory. Malfoy held Hermione's hand the entire way to their common room.

"Draco Granger," Malfoy practically screamed at the portrait, and after being let in, Draco took off the cloak and sat Hermione down in her golden armchair. She was very quiet, and the frightened look in her eyes created knots in Malfoy's stomach.

"Hermione," he said gently. It was the first time he had ever called her by her name. Hermione looked at him. "Do you trust me?" he said. She looked away, and then nodded. Malfoy disappeared to his dormitory and returned a minute later with the same tiny black flask he had used when trying to disable Blaise's love potion.

"Drink this," he said, unscrewing the top, and tilted Hermione's chin while she opened her mouth, drinking a clear, odourless potion.

Malfoy sat down on his silver armchair across from Hermione. She blinked.

"Hermione, what did you do last night?"

Hermione sighed. "I went to the library after dinner for a few hours. I then left the library to return to the common room but was stopped by Zabini on the fourth floor."

Mafoy's jaw tightened. "What happened?" he asked.

Hermione blinked. "He flirted with me. I told him it was no use, I would not sleep with him so he could win ten galleons in a bet. He laughed. He said the Slytherins were not in on the bet, and that Malfoy had a different challenge going on. Malfoy was supposed to sleep with me so that he would not die. He made an Unbreakable Vow to sleep with me."

Malfoy ran his fingers through his hair, "and what did you say?"

"I said Malfoy was so stupid he deserved to die at that rate. It was his own fault for risking his life just to sleep with me. But Zabini said there was more to it than that. He said Malfoy had to do something more than just sleep with me."

Malfoy drew a breath. "What happened then?"

Hermione folded her hands neatly, speaking with the same blank expression, "Zabini told me Malfoy would not be happy if I knew about this. He put the Imperius curse on me."

Malfoy swore, but Hermione continued in a dead-pan voice, "He told me to get the invisibility cloak from Harry, and to meet him at the Slytherin common room. He gave me the password. He told me not to speak to anyone else. I complied. I brought the cloak to him. He told me to go to the Owlery and send a letter to McGonagall; to tell her I would be returning home to my Muggle school. I was to instruct the owl to send the letter with the morning post the next day. If anyone saw me I was to tell them I was writing to my parents. I saw Malfoy. I told him the lie like I had been instructed to."

Malfoy looked intently at Hermione. "And then?"

"And then I returned to the Slytherin common room, where I met Zabini. He had left with the cloak and returned with it as well as with a vial of clear liquid. Veritaserum. He put the Imperius curse on me for the third time and told me to sleep for eight hours in his trunk with the cloak on me. I did as I was told."

Malfoy grimaced with disgust.

"Eight hours later I awoke," Hermione continued, "Zabini fed me, and put the curse on me again, allowing me to leave under the cloak to use the bathroom. When I returned to his dormitory I went back into the trunk. He heard Malfoy in the common room, looking for him. He took the cloak off me, muttered a memory spell to wipe out my memory, and put a vanishing spell on the vial of Veritaserum. He concealed me with the cloak before Malfoy came in," she finished. Her head rolled back and she closed her eyes. Malfoy had his head in his hands and looked up to see the soft heaving of her chest.

* * *

A/N: Oh my Merlin, I have no idea what I am doing and I'm sorry this got so serious! I honestly didn't mean it to be! Blaise is just sick, isn't he? I almost gagged while writing the "Are you hungry?" part….what a fucking creep. Well, let me know what you think about this chapter and if you'd like the story to stay this dramatic or lighten up a bit etc.

ALSO, yes I know Blaise used the memory spell, but I figured the Veritaserum would cancel it out so that Hermione could tell Malfoy what happened.

:)


	11. Chapter 11

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My thoughts have been literally everywhere with this story! I think I'm going to need two chapters to tie everything together before moving on with the story, so this chapter gives a little insight on Blaise, and basically has characters explaining stuff to each other and Hermione mulling things through. At least this'll give me room for a bit of fluff, lemony sweetness and humor next chapter. Enjoy, lovelies!

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**CHAPTER ELEVEN: MEMORY AT THE MALFOY MANOR**

Hermione had gone to bed after her confession to Malfoy through the use of Veritaserum. Malfoy waited until she was asleep, then grabbing Harry's invisibility cloak, hurried to find him and Ron.

Malfoy searched the library, Entrance and Great Halls before finding the pair under a beech tree on the grounds. They stood up when they saw him walking towards them. None of them glanced around to see how it odd it would look at these three chatting together. Malfoy passed Harry his cloak.

"What the hell is going on?" Ron said urgently, but Malfoy hushed him. He indicated that they walk closer to the deserted lake. Harry and Ron nodded, and the wind grew still as they reached the water.

"She's alright," Malfoy said, looking at the calm lake. He heard Ron sigh in relief.

"She was put under the Imperius curse. By Blaise." Malfoy ignored their expressions of horror.

"He cornered her in the halls yesterday, and made her get the cloak. He forced her to write the letter to McGonagall and lie to anyone she saw. Blaise used the cloak to get Veritaserum from Snape, probably so that no one could get either of them to tell the truth-"

"What-but then- we have to tell someone-Dumbledore-"

"Hang on," Harry said slowly, "how do you know all of this?"

"I have a flask of my own Veritaserum," Malfoy said, still not looking at either of them.

"And I didn't get it by theft. I brewed it over the summer," he continued, as both had opened their mouths to retort accusations.

"We need to tell someone-"

"No," Malfoy said firmly, finally looking at them. "Let her rest, Granger should decide-"

"What? Bleeding, _no_, Malfoy," Ron snapped. "You're really going to defend Zabini? He used an _Unforgiveable_ curse. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it-"

"You didn't even know she had been Imperiused!" Ron yelled. A few birds nearby scattered to the sky. Ron's words seemed to echo in the blinding silence.

"Ron, I didn't know either," Harry said quietly.

"No, this prat doesn't get it," Ron said, pointing at Malfoy, "What Zabini did was illegal, he should be locked up in Azkaban-"

"Let Granger wake up so she can talk to us and to Blaise first," Malfoy interrupted. "How's she going to feel when she wakes up, has only our word to go off of, and Blaise has disappeared? What is that going to look like? She'll think-"

"She's not getting anywhere near that lunatic," Ron said heatedly, "and you-"

"You're not the only one who cares about her," Malfoy said angrily.

Ron snorted. "Oh, and I suppose you do?"

"All I'm saying is that Granger deserves to know what she wants to know," Malfoy said, his voice steady.

Harry thought for a moment. "Okay," he said. Ron's jaw dropped, but Malfoy showed no sign of hearing him.

"I'm going to tell her what happened when she wakes up," Malfoy said, putting his hands in his pockets, "and I'll tell her to come to dinner so she can speak with you two as well."

Harry nodded gratefully. Ron rubbed the bottom half of his face, still not entirely convinced.

"Alright," he finally said.

IIIII

Malfoy sat opposite the dimly lit fireplace in his silver armchair, waiting for Hermione to wake up and come down. His thoughts drifted to the summer, a week before making the Unbreakable Vow.

_Malfoy and Blaise clinked glasses. They were drinking Firewhiskey in the empty Malfoy Manor. Seated at the large dining table made of dark wood, they were surrounded by scattered bottles and glasses. There was a glass ash tray on the table, and smoke drifted lazily from Blaise's mouth and nostrils. Malfoy made a mental note to ask his friend how he'd picked up the Muggle habit._

_ "Parvati Patil," Blaise slurred, and took a sip from his glass. Half the contents splashed down the front of his shirt._

_ Malfoy laughed. They were both drunk._

_ "Now that's actually interesting," Malfoy said, circling the tips of his glass with his fingers, "as I've had the matching set."_

_ Blaise laughed loudly, "What? Padma, too?"_

_ Malfoy raised his eyebrows and shrugged, and put his glass to his lips. When he had placed the glass back on the table, he saw his friend scrutinizing him, with something that looked like dislike._

_ "Yes?" Malfoy asked._

_ "Draco, dear friend," Blaise said smoothly, and Malfoy was impressed his voice did not waver from the liquor, "Do you remember a little chat we had a few years ago?"_

_ Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Regarding…"_

_ "Regarding a little blonde I specifically told you not to touch," Blaise said. His voice was silky, but there was a dangerous undertone that Malfoy tried to manoeuver around._

_ "I think you should be a little more specif-"_

_ "I think you should be a little more respectful of a friend's wishes," Blaise interrupted. His dark skin glowered, and Malfoy saw a flash in his eyes._

_ Malfoy was not quite bothered yet, however. "Regarding…" he asked again._

_ "Have you touched Lovegood?" The words had barely slipped out of Blaise's mouth when Draco began to laugh._

_ "You're still on about Loony? Merlin, Blaise, I thought you were serious for a moment." Draco grinned and looked down at his glass, "Well, I'm sorry mate, but that ship has sailed," he said, and continued grinning, bringing the glass to his mouth. Before the Firewhiskey touched his lips however, the glass Malfoy was holding broke in his hand._

_ "Blaise, the hell do you think-"_

_ "You were warned," Blaise said slowly, and rolled his cigarette in the ash tray in front of him, "And now I'll warn you again: you touched what was mine, and now I will take what you wish was yours." He stood up and threw Malfoy a look of disgust before leaving through a fireplace of emerald flames._

Malfoy awoke from his reverie at the sight of the petite figure of Hermione by the door of her dormitory.

IIIII

After Hermione had been told everything by Malfoy, she sat quietly, her mind racing. She knew normally, under any circumstance, the first thing she would do would be to run to Professor McGonagall. For some reason however, she wanted to do the polar opposite, and she felt a force pulling her in the murky direction of revenge. Letting nothing slip yet, Hermione looked up at Malfoy.

"Did he-"

"No," Malfoy said. By the look they shared, Hermione knew Malfoy understood her question on whether Blaise had touched her. Malfoy had told her about the kiss, but she nodded absent mindedly about it. Her thoughts reeled to her conversation with Blaise before he had put the Imperius curse on her: "_Shagging is not enough to break the vow."_ Hermione knew that Blaise meant she had to fall in love with Malfoy in order for him not to break the vow, but she had no idea of when this was supposed to occur by, or if Malfoy was aware she knew.

Malfoy alternatively, had told Hermione everything except that she had to fall in love with him, as well as that she too, would die, if he were to break the vow.

"So," he said firmly, "what should we do?"

"I don't know," Hermione sighed. "I don't think I want to go to a teacher yet…" she trailed off. Malfoy widened his eyes.

"I guess-could you just keep an eye on him? I'll tell Harry and Ron to do the same," she said, and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Malfoy felt an ache pound in his chest as he watched her.

"Of course," he said quietly. "Granger?"

"Yes?"

Malfoy held back what he wanted to say. "I told Weasley and Potter you'd come to dinner. They want to see you."

Hermione nodded and gave a small smile. Then she got up from her chair and leant in dangerously close to Malfoy. He was surprised, and felt a twitching in his pants.

"You are a sadistic, evil prat," Hermione whispered in his ear, "but thank-you, for saving me."

Malfoy looked into her eyes, and tried to decode her words, wondering which part of the sentence she meant more, when Hermione closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his. It was a gentle, sweet kiss, and the ache in Malfoy's stomach grew.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked, before he could help himself.

"I should be, but I'm not," Hermione said honestly, and left Malfoy alone in the common room.

IIIII

Hermione spent the next couple of days pushing the incident with Blaise out of her mind. She had many other things to stress about, and she had already been assured by Harry, Ron and Malfoy that they would be watching Blaise. It appeared to Hermione, however, that perhaps Malfoy had been doing more than merely watching Blaise, as the next time she saw him in Potions class, he walked in with a cut lip and two very swollen eyes.

Snape still seemed to believe Ron and Harry were responsible for stealing his Veritaserum, obvious when Snape took away 40 points for Gryffindor when Harry accidentally dropped a few lacewing flies on the floor. Malfoy didn't seem to be too perturbed by this, much to the dismay of Ron.

Hermione turned back to her potion, a remedy for dragon pox, and snuck a glance at Malfoy. He had tiny beads of sweat on his forehead as his cauldron projected heavy amounts of steam. Hermione bit her lip. Would it be so wrong to let herself fall for Malfoy? Yes, he was horrible to her for almost her whole life at Hogwarts, but that argument no longer tugged at her conscience anxiously. She wondered how things would've played out if the Unbreakable Vow had not been made.

* * *

A/N: Wahhh, not too impressed with this chapter, but this stuff had to be done! I hope you guys liked it regardless, haha. HOW DID YOU ALL FEEL ABOUT LUNA THOUGH. Or, I can always turn this into a Dramionaise...

Think I'm getting a little ahead of myself here.

I WILL MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER FUNNY AND SMUTTY

JUST LOVE ME :'(


	12. Chapter 12

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I used to update this every day and now I've been updating every other day or so…I don't know if you guys have even noticed, but I have, so here's some beautiful smuttiness for your patience :3 I'm genuinely not sure what I'm going to do with Blaise yet, so you'll have to stay on your toes for that.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE: SILKY LILAC**

Ron scowled as he saw Malfoy talking to Hermione by the staircase in the Entrance Hall. Alright, yes, he was with Lavender, but that gave Malfoy no right to flirt with his friend. He hid behind the staircase in a way he wouldn't be seen, but to his dismay, could not hear their conversation.

Attempting to sneak a peep at their facial expressions, Ron found himself inches away from Malfoy's nose.

"Spying, Weasley?" Malfoy said with a smirk.

Ron turned red. "Where is she going?" he asked, seeing Hermione's retreating back.

Malfoy looked bored at this turn of conversation, "Not that it's any of your business, but she's going to apologize to McGonagall for that letter and then go to the common room. _Our_ common room," Malfoy added emphasis, waiting for Ron's ears to glow crimson.

He was not disappointed, as seconds later Ron's ears began to look like they were on the verge of combusting. Malfoy examined his nails.

"I think she'd look better with a blonde than a redhead. Granger, I mean," he said, looking up from his hand to Ron. "Why don't you go back to Lavender? Or did you two have a row…again."

Poor Ron spluttered and Malfoy turned on his heel and stalked away happily, feeling like a new man. It had been days since he was rude to someone.

IIIII

Malfoy reached the common room, and his heart soared at the password still being "Draco Granger." When he sat down however, he felt a little confused at his feelings. Hermione was supposed to fall for him, not the other way around. He heard the door snap, and saw Hermione at the dormitory steps, wearing nothing but a tiny silk robe.

Malfoy stared. The robe was so short her thighs peeked at him teasingly, and her nipples were erect through the smooth material. The lilac colour brought out the colouring of her hair and eyes, and Malfoy glanced at the exposed flesh of her chest bones.

"Sorry," Hermione said unabashedly. "I forgot my book." She walked down the steps and picked up the book, which Malfoy now noticed, was sitting on the table near him. He watched the robe expose a dangerous amount of her cleavage as she reached for the book, and he felt a stirring in his pants.

Hermione sensed his arousal. "Did you want to come in my room?" she asked.

"Among other places," Malfoy said before he could help himself. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"That's quite a body you've got there," he said, eyeing her bottom and thighs as he followed her up the steps to her dormitory.

"I thought you were supposed to be smooth," she said, smirking. Malfoy felt his heart beating in his mouth and cursed himself.

Once they were in her dormitory, Malfoy barely looked around and pressed himself to Hermione's back. There was a sharp intake of breath as Hermione felt a flash of heat surround her. She felt Malfoy's breath on her neck, and he began to kiss her softly, while lightly swiping at the bottom of her robe, giving her tingles in one spot in particular.

Malfoy turned her around and kissed her, bringing her in closer so that he could feel her nipples on his chest. Hermione wrapped a leg around him and felt his hard on press against her. Malfoy pulled away from the kiss and very slowly undid the already loose knot on Hermione's robe, not looking away from her eyes. He pulled the silky robe off her and it felt in a heap quietly on the floor.

Hermione made her way to the bed, swaying her hips gently so that Malfoy bit his lip while admiring her full behind. Hermione lay down on her bed and smoothed a finger down her leg. She brought her hands to her breasts and pushed them up, before letting them fall so she could rub her clit. She let her fingers move down and Malfoy watched her touch at her glistening cunt, before soaking her clit in the juice.

"Come here already," she said quietly. Malfoy peeled his shirt off and positioned himself on the bed beside her.

"Take off all your clothes," she said. Malfoy did as she commanded – she had the upper hand and he knew it. However he did not feel threatened by it; he trusted her and knew she deserved this dominance.

Hermione climbed on top and kissed Malfoy, brushing her finger tips against his chest, encouraging his swelling cock. She smiled as she kissed him, which made Malfoy very happy.

"So…" he said. Hermione looked up at him. "Did you want someone to try out those Muggle contraptions with?"

Hermione scrunched up her face in confusion before realizing he was talking about the condoms she had. She laughed and slapped his chest, but he pulled her by the wrist so that their faces were inches apart. Malfoy could feel her dripping on him, and he put his lips on hers, begging her to touch him. As if she was a master of Legilimency, Hermione squeezed his balls lightly, causing Malfoy to moan out loud. He saw Hermione get out her wand and perform a little spell around her waist, to which a green-blue circle surrounded her before disappearing. It was a contraceptive spell. Then she lifted herself and let his cock come in contact with her clit, before her lower lips swallowed him slowly, inch by inch.

Malfoy looked into Hermione's eyes as she rode him slowly, sweat on her collarbone. Her hair was mussed and Malfoy stroked her everywhere- her breasts, the inside of her arms, her behind, and her thighs, pleasuring her with every touch. He let his hands rest on hers which were on his chest.

Hermione moaned as she began to move faster, and just when Malfoy was afraid he was close to coming, Hermione got off him and turned around, riding him again in reverse. Malfoy watched her hips gyrate, and her bottom move up and down as she rode his cock, caressing his balls and touching herself.

"Come back here," he said, moaning, and Hermione went back to her original position on top of him, face to face. He ran his hands up and down the sides of her body, and pulled her towards him. She felt him lifting her up slightly and throwing her on his cock, her cunt soaking him, throbbing from pleasure.

Malfoy heard Hermione summon something quietly. A bundle wrapped in pink and gold came flying towards them from the vanity. Hermione grabbed it. It was the chocolate he had given her.

Malfoy noticed she had eaten most of it, but there was still a bit left, so Hermione broke a piece and ate it. She broke another piece and fed it to Malfoy. Once the soft chocolate hit his tongue Malfoy groaned in pleasure. The fairy sugar made it so sweet and his head whizzed as he felt exhilarated yet peaceful. The effects of the chocolate began to come alive, and Hermione rode Malfoy intensely, a dreamy expression in her eyes. Malfoy moaned again as she writhed on top of him. The chocolate made them feel they were flying higher and higher, Hermione moving faster and faster, her breasts moving so fast Malfoy could barely stand to look at them. They saw stars as Hermione bounced up and down Malfoy, reaching the most powerful orgasm together.

Hermione rolled off Malfoy and he watched her heaving chest, his hand on her stomach.

"Granger," he said quietly, lightly rubbing her abdomen.

"Hm?"

"I want to sleep here tonight."

Hermione kept her gaze at the ceiling. She didn't know if it was wise to get attached, even more than she was already. But his finger tips on her stomach convinced her she really did not want to care about why she should be angry at him.

"Alright," she said, and he moved in closer to hold her.

IIIII

"And? How was it?" Nott asked excitedly. Malfoy just closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. Nott burst into gleeful laughter. The two of them were in the Room of Requirement under the pretense of getting schoolwork done.

"It was just…so good," Malfoy said, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly, still in disbelief. Whenever he saw Hermione he felt constriction in his chest, constantly threatening to explode. He tried to excuse it as worry about the Vow…the Christmas holidays were nearing and time was slowly slipping away…yet he was almost certain the twinges were from Hermione herself: the way she looked over at him, her smile when she received a grade (for all of them were always good), the way her leg dangled when it crossed the other…

"What are you going to do about Blaise though?" Nott asked, and Malfoy snapped back to reality with a harsh awakening.

"I don't know," he said, frowning. "I want Granger to question him herself, but she doesn't seem to want to…which is odd in itself…" his words trailed off as the Vanishing Cabinet he had failed to fix last year caught his attention.

IIIII

Hermione and Ron circled the seventh floor of the castle. The two were sharing a pack of Drooble's Best Blowing Bubble Gum and laughing, quite alone. Of the few people that were on the seventh floor, everyone seemed to look in interest at the adorable pair. Everyone except for one Draco Malfoy, who was sulking in a dark corner.

After their third circle, Malfoy heard Hermione and Ron laugh again and he rolled his eyes, finally leaving the shadowed confines of his hiding spot. When he appeared in the light, Hermione and Ron gasped as if they were being faced by a horrific creature.

"For Merlin's sake, calm down," Malfoy said impatiently.

"Spying, Malfoy?" Ron asked with a smirk. Malfoy thought he looked like he wanted to be struck against the side of the head. Before he could say anything however, a dreamy blonde witch walked onto the seventh floor.

"Oh, hello," Luna said, smiling serenely. Malfoy flushed a light pink, unknowing to Ron and Hermione, who said "hello" back. She was looking very pretty in pale pink robes, and her usual radish earrings. Luna never showed any hint that she had been one of Malfoy's favourite one-night stands, which he was grateful for, and instead looked at them with a glazed expression.

"Are you three together?" she asked curiously.

"Er, what?" said Ron.

"Sexually," Luna said bluntly, her voice still light and airy.

Hermione and Ron flushed a brilliant blood red, and all three of them said "NO." Luna shrugged and continued smiling, as if the three of them were lying to her. She waggled her fingers in farewell and walked away, surprising the three of them as they realized she had not brought up Nargles once.

Ron snorted, "You know," he said to Hermione, "Luna must be really wild in-well, you know." Hermione laughed and shook her head. Malfoy, not particularly comfortable with the current topic of conversation, loosened his collar a bit.

"I believe you two were arguing over something or other," Hermione reminded them. Malfoy and Ron looked at each other warily and shrugged, much to a bemused Hermione.


	13. Chapter 13

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, all! So I've decided to start off with a bit of a fluff, but it does get a tad darker moving on in the chapter! Thank-you so much for the lovely reviews, they're really what are pushing me to write this story. ^_^ Enjoy! xx

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**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CHRISTMAS IN THE CASTLE**

The holidays had arrived, and snow decorated the grounds while the castle's interior was frosted with baubles of gold, red and white, tinsel and springs of mistletoe. The latter was beginning to cause a bit of ruckus however, with the girls seeming more assertive this year, and it was with great surprise and a tad of indigestion that Hermione found Millicent Bullstrode attempting to smack the lips off Theodore Nott one afternoon.

Harry and Ron were off to the Burrow as usual each Christmas, and to their surprise, Hermione declined their invitation to come along. Harry nodded understandingly, while Ron muttered darkly under his breath. Harry thought he knew why: Malfoy was also, most unusually, staying in the castle over the break.

On Christmas Eve, Malfoy and Hermione walked to their common room together after the first Christmas feast. Hermione was chatting happily about treacle tarts and house elves, while Malfoy half smirked, half grinned at her. She was wearing one of those – in his opinion – god awful Christmas sweaters. He was pretty certain it was one she made herself and not one she usually received from Ron's mother, and this idea erased Malfoy's scowl.

They reached the portrait to a very intoxicated King and Queen.

"Oh dear," Hermione said, giggling.

"Draco Granger," Malfoy said. To his surprise, the portrait did not swing open. Instead the Queen let out a hiccough.

"Not so fast," said the King in his booming voice, chortling and spilling a bit of what Hermione was certain was Firewhiskey from his glass. The Queen gave a lopsided smile that Hermione never thought she would see and pointed to something a little above their portrait. Malfoy and Hermione looked up and saw a little spring of mistletoe. The King winked.

"Well, what about it eh?"

Hermione blushed scarlet. Malfoy was taken aback: she had seemed so in charge that night when she lured him into her bedroom. Grinning mischievously, he pulled her towards him and dipped her while kissing her passionately, putting on quite a show for the King and Queen. The royal couple in the portrait let out cheers and hiccoughs, and swung open to let Malfoy and Hermione in.

Once inside, Hermione plopped herself on the couch and began knitting sweaters and hats for house elves. Malfoy gave her an exasperated look and opened up a book. There was silence for a few minutes, and then Malfoy conjured two bottles of Butterbeer from the kitchens, and handed one to Hermione.

"I have something for you." he said, a bit nervously. "A gift, I mean – I know we should wait until tomorrow morning but I just can't-"

Hermione's face broke into a wide smile. "I got you something too!" she said. The two hurried to their dormitories and returned to the common room, Hermione holding a small gift wrapped in purple and gold, while Malfoy held something large and quite bulky, wrapped in silver and blue.

"Ooooh," Hermione said, eyeing the Malfoy's package – er the gift, he was holding. They sat down on the sofa and Hermione began to unwrap the bulky present, tearing apart the paper and ribbons. She gasped.

"Is this-"

"It's the entire Tomkink collection, third edition," Malfoy said eagerly, trying to detect if she was pleased or not. Hermione squealed happily and ran her fingers along the spines of the volumes, "But Malfoy-this is really rare-"

"It has a special chapter from his personal journal too," Malfoy said, relieved to see Hermione looked happy, "and of course, _Hogwarts: A History_."

Hermione looked up at him, "No one ever gets me books even though that's all I ever ask for!" Malfoy eased into his seat. It was Hermione's turn to be nervous.

"Well, about my gift…I made it, you know, er," she stumbled. Malfoy grinned and took the small box from her. To be quite frank, Hermione was on and off with her affections for him, and he was very pleased to receive anything from her at all.

Malfoy unwrapped the box and opened it. Inside was a little vial filled with a golden liquid.

"Felix Felicis?" he said in awe. Hermione nodded.

"You know how to brew this?" he asked, impressed. An avid potion maker himself, he knew the liquid luck took months to make. Hermione nodded again.

"I figured you could use it, knowing your luck," she teased. Then she turned serious. "_Do not_ use it during Quidditch or for any tests or exams." Malfoy laughed. No, this potion would have to be used for something much bigger…

Malfoy's mind drifted a bit more and he caught himself making a realization.

"Granger…" he said slowly, as Hermione took a sip of Butterbeer and beckoned for him to continue, "Didn't you get an 'Exceeds Expectations' for Defence Against the Dark Arts in fifth year?"

Hermione spluttered on her drink, clearly remembering her words of no sooner falling for Malfoy than getting a grade lower than 'Outstanding.'

"Erm.."

Malfoy grinned and his heart beat in his ears as he leaned over the loveseat and kissed Hermione.

IIIII

The next morning, Malfoy awoke to a heap of gifts at the foot of his bed. Smirking at the usual sweets, money and new robes from his parents, he headed down to the common room, where Hermione was, waiting for him nervously.

"Granger, what's wr-"

"I want to talk to Blaise. Today." Hermione said. Malfoy's stomach lurched, and a knot tightened. He was afraid of how much Blaise would say. Was this the true reason Hermione had wanted to stay in the castle – to talk to Blaise, since he'd be staying over the holidays as well? Malfoy scolded himself for thinking she had wanted to stay for him.

"Uh, alright," Malfoy said, nodding. He knew Hermione deserved to find out as much as she could.

"We can go now," Hermione said, and pointed to a funny map with little dots showing the locations of everyone who was at Hogwarts. It was Harry's Marauder's Map. Malfoy saw a little dot with the name "Blaise Zabini." He was in his dormitory, alone. Malfoy panicked but nodded again, and the two of them set out for the Slytherin common room.

On their way to the dungeons, Malfoy glanced about, worried someone might spot them, but Hermione seemed quite at peace: she was holding the map and could see where everyone was, and so they reached the common room without any problem. After giving the password, the two found themselves surrounded by green flames and leather couches. Malfoy began to feel slightly sick, and they walked up the steps to Blaise's dormitory.

It all happened very fast, in Malfoy's opinion: Hermione had swung open the door and shouted "_Expelliarmus!_" It appeared Blaise had been near the door as the force of Hermione's spell pushed Blaise to the opposite side of the room, and knocked him out unconscious.

"Tie him up," she said calmly. Malfoy complied instantly, and cast a set of invisible ropes around Blaise. They sat in silence and waited for him to stir. When Blaise opened his eyes he saw Hermione standing over him, and Malfoy to his left, his wand stuck to his chin. He saw Hermione had his own wand in her left hand.

"I thought you would come," Blaise said.

"Why did you kidnap me?" Hermione asked, her face blazing with intensity.

"I was not going to do you any serious harm," Blaise said. Hermione thought him to be telling the truth. "I just wanted to frighten Draco – to remind him."

"Remind him of what?" Hermione asked at once.

"To remind him what hurt feels like."

There was silence.

"Why did you make an Unbreakable Vow with Malfoy?" Hermione asked, this time, curious.

Blaise looked hesitant, and Malfoy pulled his head down by his hair until Blaise answered, "Alright, alright! I wanted to get back at him, I was furious, I didn't know if he'd succeed or not, I just wanted revenge-"

"Revenge for what?"

Malfoy closed his eyes, dreading Blaise's next words.

"For touching Luna Lovegood."

Hermione looked startled and then looked at Malfoy, "I see," was all she said.

"Grang-"

"Blaise, what does Malfoy have to do exactly, in order to stay alive?"

"He has to make you fall in love with him by the end of June."

Hermione nodded. "And this is between you two, yes? No one else is involved?"

At this Blaise began to laugh, and his bruised eyes popped like he was insane. "Tell her, Draco."

Malfoy slackened his grip on his wand and avoided Hermione's eyes. Hermione began to panic.

"Tell me what?"

Blaise grinned maniacally, struggling to open his swollen eyes. "If you don't fall in love with him, he won't be the only one dead."

"_STUPEFY!_" Malfoy shouted, and the spell hit Blaise so squarely on the face he was afraid Blaise was actually dead.

Hermione whipped her head around at Malfoy. There were no words to explain the grief Malfoy tried to quell in his stomach when her eyes, like venom, looked at Malfoy closely. She got up and walked from the room, leaving Blaise's wand behind. Malfoy wondered furiously what to do, and after a split second ran after her.


	14. Chapter 14

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That awkward moment when I'm now on the brink of shipping Luna and Draco…ahaha don't worry though, this is a Dramione fanfic and will stay that way. Perhaps a Luna ship with someone after this story? Moving on…thank-you so much for the follows! :3

Also, I wrote this chapter while listening to _Are You the One?_ by The Presets, so give it a listen if you like. It's especially good for the duel, in my opinion. So if you want music, I suggest _Are You the One?_ for the first two parts, and then for the rest of the story _One More Night_ by Stars. I'll put a * for when you start listening to _One More Night_ :) Enjoy!

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**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE DUEL**

Memories of Malfoy from the summer to the present blurred angrily in Hermione's thoughts, each one acting as a link to a puzzle. With each piece she realized why she had found herself slowly warming up to him: he was warm to her so that she could fall in love. Things were much more complicated now that she was directly involved in the Unbreakable Vow. Yet Hermione knew there must be some kind of loophole to the vow, there usually was in the Muggle world. She knew the magical world was very, very different, but she was sure an innocent third party could not be harmed in a vow they did not know about. _Surely someone would've thought to work that into the vow's magic,_ she thought furiously. Or else, wouldn't more people be dying every day?

What really struck Hermione was the way Malfoy had looked at her when she found out – was the pleading in his eyes genuine, or was he only scared he would lose to the vow? Hermione rolled the memories of Blaise around as well. So Blaise was in love with Luna, of all people. And Malfoy had slept with her. Or so it seemed. Hermione cringed, and her thoughts flew to when she, Ron, and Malfoy had met Luna on the seventh floor. Hermione groaned, wondering if she should tell everything she had found out to Ron and Harry.

After escaping Malfoy and Blaise, Hermione had run to a bathroom. Now, however, she was living in the girls' dormitories in the Gryffindor tower. Faye and her friend were away on holiday and Lavender and Parvarti welcomed their friend back to their dormitory merely without question. Hermione made it clear it would be temporary: besides the other Gryffindor girls coming back to claim their rooms, Hermione felt she would be better off in her own dormitory when Harry and Ron return. She was still unsure she wanted them to know.

IIIII

When Malfoy could not find Hermione he ran back to Blaise. But Blaise, already free from the invisible ropes, was ready. The two duelled.

"She means something to you, all of a sudden, doesn't she?" Blaise taunted. Malfoy's eyes gleamed in anger and red sparks flew from his wand.

"The hell'd she ever do to you, Zabini?"

There were flashes of blue and purple.

"Nothing," Blaise said carelessly, twirling his wand in his hand, "Which only makes you feel worse, doesn't it? Her having to pay because you played with one girl too many-"

"_Alarte Ascendare!_" Malfoy screamed, pointing his wand at Blaise's night table nearby. The table zoomed into the air and in Blaise's direction, but he yelled "_Protego!_" and it crashed into the right side of Malfoy's head. Malfoy was not unconscious but his head was now gushing blood furiously. Blaise laughed softly.

"That must hurt," he said quietly.

Malfoy swore under his breath while Blaise laughed again. Malfoy's head was pounding and he could feel his hot blood all over the right side of his body. He closed his eyes.

"_Everte Statum!_" Malfoy cried, and Blaise was pushed backwards, while feeling like someone had thrown a brick at his face. Malfoy put his head between his knees and breathed heavily. Blaise's eyes, however, flickered.

"_Aqua eructo!"_ Blaise shouted, and a jet of cold water hit Malfoy in the head. Malfoy got up and the water splashed all over him, drenching him. Blaise lifted his wand arm so the water shot straight into Malfoy's mouth. Choking, Malfoy felt like he would drown, the pain in his throat was almost too much from both the cold and the hard pressure of the water.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Malfoy thought to himself, his wand pointed at Blaise. At once the jet of water disappeared and Blaise's hands and arms snapped to his body as he lay stiffly on the floor. Malfoy spat. He used "_Vulnera Sanentur_" on the right side of his head, a healing charm he had learned in confidence from Professor Snape. At once blood began to rush back into his head and invisible little stitches got to work. He then used the Scouring charm to clean the dried blood off his robes and ear, as well as a drying charm on his clothes.

Malfoy threw Blaise a fleeting look of disgust and bound him up in invisible ropes. Blaise looked at him smugly.

"I think you'll like where I'm taking you," Malfoy cooed to Blaise. "You've heard of the Vanishing Cabinets, haven't you?"

Blaise's eyes widened and he shook his head - the only part of his body he could move - furiously. His eyes were wide with pleading, but Malfoy only laughed.

Putting the Disillusionment charm on Blaise, Malfoy dragged him to the common room before levitating him slowly to the Room of Requirement.

They managed peacefully, Blaise's body hidden and levitating, with Malfoy only having to worry about keeping his wand on the invisible body in front of him discreet. There was no trouble until the fifth floor, when unknowing to Malfoy, Blaise had re-gained control of his body. With a swift movement, Blaise took his wand from his pocket, grinning at Malfoy's error, and released the invisible ropes that were still binding him.

"_Incendio_," Blaise thought, his wand pointed at Malfoy, and at once, Malfoy's robes began to catch fire. Malfoy gave a shout of panic at the flames before pouring water from his wand to his robes.

Malfoy looked about wildly. Blaise was still under the Disillusionment charm.

"_HOMENOM REVELIO_," Malfoy shouted and pointed his wand in each direction, until Blaise was revealed.

"_Stupefy_!" Blaise shouted, but Malfoy was too quick for him.

"_Protego Maxima!_" Malfoy said at the same time, leaving the spell to jinx Blaise instead. Malfoy took Blaise's wand and once again put the usual charms on him, before levitating him to the next floor. It was a miracle the two were not caught by anyone. Once inside the room, Malfoy took the Disillusionment charm off Blaise.

Malfoy dragged him to the black vanishing cabinet. Before he put Blaise inside however, he reached inside his robes and pulled out a tiny vial of golden potion.

"No more chances," Malfoy said, and uncorking the tube, took a small sip. Then carefully sealing the potion and replacing it in his robes, Malfoy opened the door of the cabinet and shoved Blaise into it.

"Good-bye," Malfoy said softly, and punched Blaise in the nose. Blood began to stream down his face while Malfoy shut the cabinet.

Malfoy left the room and took out his wand. "Point me to Granger," he muttered. A compass appeared in the air above him, pointing Northwest. She must be in between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. Malfoy made the compass vanish and made his way upstairs.

IIIII *

He found her walking in the corridor, on her way to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione locked eyes with Malfoy and with an ache in the pit of his stomach he saw hers blaze with hatred and she looked away.

"You're going to the wrong common room," Malfoy said softly. Hermione's heart twinged and she felt on the verge of very real, burning tears.

"Get away from me," she whispered. Her voice cracked.

"No," Malfoy said. "You're coming with me. I need to talk-to explain-"

"There is nothing to explain," Hermione said coldly. She looked at him and just now noticed his burnt robes and a scar on the right side of his head. He was also dripping wet.

"Please…" he trailed off.

Hermione was now positive she would cry if she did not escape him. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" She stopped walking, and her eyes were blurred with tears. "Haven't you done enough? Why can't you just be decent-and just-"

Malfoy felt a dull blow to the heart. He made a sound in the back of his throat. "Alright. I'm sorry," he said, and turned away from her. He began to walk away, not looking back, even when he heard a soft sobbing coming from the corridor behind him.

IIIII

Malfoy fell with a thud to his silver armchair in the common room. He had ruined it. He had not thought about the vow for a while, there was just one thing that was enraptured in his brain. Granger was now the person he cared for most. Her bushy hair, her intelligence, the way she giggled. He thought back to her stroking the books he had given her, to the purple silk robe she wore, the way she laughed and teased him for his underwear not being Slytherin colours, to the way she had touched him after saying 'I don't want you to win the bet…yet."

Malfoy knew he couldn't push her to forgive him. These things took time in regular cases, and the situation between himself and Hermione was anything but normal. He ran his hands in his hair, staring at the fire in front of him.

IIIII

Hermione shielded her face from everyone in the common room until she reached the girls' dormitory. It was deserted, and Hermione fell to her bed, face down, and began to shake with sobs. Tears streamed down her face as she rolled over to her side finally. She sniffed and sat up on the edge of the bed, wiping her nose with her sleeve. She vaguely wondered what had happened to Malfoy that his robes were disheveled and his skin was scarred, but then a flash of Luna Lovegood appeared in her mind and a fresh wave of tears hit her.

And then memories of Malfoy and herself came at her viciously: the way he winked at her, how he had kissed her under the Mistletoe, his giving her 5 points for Gryffindor for being "easy on the eyes," the way his tongue felt on her. But then she thought of the darker side to him: his taunting at Diagon Alley, his screaming match with Ron, the way Blaise arrived to class bruised and swollen, the word "Muddie" dripping from his lips, the way he had blown kisses in the Great Hall when being named Head Boy. She hated him. He was conceited, and cruel, and harsh. There was no warmth in him. She fell back onto the bed, and cried herself to sleep.

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A/N: ;_;


	15. Chapter 15

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Is it possible to become depressed from your own writing? I actually want to cry thinking about Draco and Hermione and this angst. Oh God. I can't.

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**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A GRYFFINDOR, A SLYTHERIN, AND A RAVENCLAW**

Days passed and soon January arrived. New Year's was lonely for both Hermione and Malfoy, and things only turned to a normal, though numb state, when school had started again. Hermione returned to her dormitory and common room, though she walked past Malfoy whenever he tried to speak to her. She refused to look at him in the Great Hall and during classes, and kept close to Ron and Harry, though not confiding in them of what she had learned.

It was time for Hermione and Malfoy to patrol together again. She had switched duties with other Prefects previously, and so Malfoy was surprised to find them patrolling the halls alone together in mid-January. Malfoy longed to ask Hermione why she had not switched her shift, or whether she could not find someone to take it, but he kept silent. The two walked along the third floor, and when seeing it was deserted, moved up the staircase to patrol the fourth floor.

"Granger, I am sorry, you know," Malfoy said, as they entered their common room after their patrol, which was in silence. Hermione said nothing, and Malfoy felt disappointed, rather than relieved, that Hermione had not changed the password to the portrait. Anything would be better than this cold silence she was giving him.

Hermione turned to him. "Sorry that we're going to die in June or sorry that you've been lying this entire time while I trusted you?"

Malfoy said nothing. He deserved what she had said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she said quietly, inches away from his face. He was looking down and finally looked up at her.

"I don't know," he said quietly.

Hermione snorted and nodded to herself, but he saw tears forming in her eyes.

"Grang-Hermione-"

"What is wrong with you?" she said again. And then she was hitting him - punching and clawing at his chest repeatedly while tears streamed down her face.

"How could you do this to me?" she whimpered, and Malfoy could do nothing but let her hit him while he stood, silently.

"I hate you. I hate you so much. You ruined everything," Hermione said. Malfoy felt a lump in his throat. He sighed and Hermione turned her head towards his suddenly and crushed her lips onto his, letting his sigh echo in her throat.

Malfoy knew he shouldn't kiss back; that he should've pushed her away and said soothing words. But he didn't. Instead he cupped her face and kissed her hard, while Hermione clutched at his robes, her tear stained face scrunched in a battle of pain and desire. Hermione pulled Malfoy's sleek white gold hair and he did not object: nor did he cry out in pain. Hermione approved of this: he did not deserve to portray any more weakness.

Just when Malfoy felt a wave of hope thrash through him eagerly, Hermione bit his bottom lip until she tasted blood. He pulled away and saw Hermione's eyes blaze with fury. She turned around and walked to her dormitory, leaving him alone in the common room like so many times before.

But a flash of anger hit Malfoy and he licked his bottom lip hungrily.

"Granger, let me in," he said, pounding on her door.

"I don't think so," she said behind the closed door. Malfoy whipped out his wand and blasted the door open. Hermione turned to face him and sat on her bed.

"Get out," she said.

"You forgot something," Malfoy said, and crouching down, brushed his lips against hers so she could taste his blood. He grabbed her hair tenderly and then gave it a pull so that she gasped.

"Get away from me," she breathed.

"Is that really what you want?"

Hermione slapped him across the face.

"No," she answered, and Malfoy threw himself on her on the bed, kissing her and sliding off her robes with ease. Hermione, underneath him, smirked. Malfoy grabbed her wrists and put them by the sides of her head, her chest heaving.

"Don't smirk at me," he said softly, and blew on her face lightly.

Hermione felt a cool rush on her skin.

"I'll do whatever I damn please," she said, and flipped the two of them over in one movement so that she was now on top of Malfoy. Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise, and then he closed them most of the way, so that he was squinting at her lazily. Hermione bit his chin lightly and Malfoy slapped the right side of her behind. Hermione ripped off Malfoy's shirt and then used a Vanishing spell on the rest of their clothes so that they were now both in their underwear. Malfoy let out a grunt and grinned at the spell, and pulled down one of the straps of Hermione's lacy white bra.

Hermione grinded her body on Malfoy's hard on through his underwear. Malfoy moaned. Hermione performed another vanishing spell and they were completely naked. Hermione dug her nails into Malfoy's chest as she rode him fiercely. Malfoy, in turn, slammed Hermione's tiny body onto his. Hermione moved up and thrust her cunt in Malfoy's face, and he began to lick her furiously, grabbing her behind while she touched her breasts and grabbed at his hair.

Malfoy slipped Hermione back on top of him and rolled over so that he was on top, and began to thrust inside her. Hermione's face was pink and he held her chin, raising it so that she was forced to look at him. Hermione did not look away, and their eyes locked while their skin, littered with drops of sweat, pounded against each other. Malfoy came and lowered himself. He kissed Hermione. He reached for her hand but she pulled away.

"Get out," Hermione said.

"No," Malfoy responded, and his fingers brushed against her cunt teasingly.

"You're still so wet," he said quietly.

"Don't flatter yourself."

Malfoy leaned towards her so that their foreheads touched. He took her hand and placed it on his heart. Hermione felt it beat hurriedly. She looked into his smoky silver eyes.

"I'm in love with you," he said, and got off her and left to the bathroom before Hermione's face revealed her reaction.

IIIII

Malfoy's words haunted Hermione that week. She could not tell if they were sincere or not, though she had an inkling that Malfoy had been serious. Had he changed? Had he grown from the boy who despised Mudbloods, who hurt, who had made the Unbreakable Vow with her as an innocent victim because he didn't care?

Hermione was unsure how she should go about talking to Malfoy now, and after his words, he seemed to shy away from her. That is to say, he left her alone, and Hermione wondered if that was how he reacted when telling someone he loved them only to not hear it back.

IIIII

Days after their night together, Malfoy mulled the incident in his head numerous times. He wondered how Hermione felt. Surely if Hermione had feelings for him she would've responded to his own confession.

Malfoy walked along the corridor on the third floor and stopped abruptly. Emerging from the men's toilets in front of him was Blaise Zabini.

Blaise seemed to notice Malfoy too, and made a movement as if to walk towards him, but Malfoy then noticed Blaise's body was contorted in an odd way, and he walked with his ankles crossed, while his left arm hung out limp, out of his body.

"The hell happened, Zabini?"

But Blaise threw his right hand into his robes and took his wand out so fast Malfoy barely had time to reach for his own when a gray vapour erupted from Blaise's wand and slowly turned into a long chain. It grew faster and threw itself at Malfoy, squeezing his body.

Malfoy returned the favour by flying dark blue flames at Blaise, each scorching his face and leaving tiny black marks. Blaise summoned a knife and pressed it to Malfoy's neck.

"_EXPELLIARMUS!_" a voice cried. Malfoy turned his head only to have the knife jab into him, leaving a trail of blood. The voice was Hermione's, and both Blaise and Malfoy's wands flew to her.

Hermione stunned Blaise and Vanished the chain and knife around Malfoy, as well as the dark blue flames which were now floating in the air softly.

"I'll take him to the hospital wing," Hermione said, motioning at Blaise.

Malfoy opened his mouth to speak when another voice interrupted.

"Ooooh, are we all duelling?" It was Luna.

Malfoy swung to look at Hermione, who threw him a look before levitating Blaise and taking him to the hospital wing.

"No, Luna- listen, I'm sorry, it's not a good time-"

"You like her, don't you?" Luna said dreamily, still standing in the same spot, looking very calm for someone who had just witnessed the end of a duel.

"Yes."

Luna nodded and smiled, "I'm happy for you," she said happily, and walked past him to get to the staircase. Malfoy hesitated, but then caught up with her.

"Luna, I'm sorry…if I was ever…you know, when we were together-"

Luna widened her eyes a bit. "Yes, you could be quite rude sometimes, but luckily, I felt no real emotional attachment to you. You should be nicer to Hermione, though. I appreciate your apology," she finished brightly, and walked down the steps. Malfoy was slightly taken aback by her honesty, but then turned to walk to his common room to wait for Hermione.


	16. Chapter 16

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't updated as quickly as I usually do! I've been working on a new fanfic revolving around Daphne Greengrass :3 I'm sorry it's such a short chapter, just wanted to give you something tbh, and I'm not sure how I'm going to tie in everything together and come up with a good ending. Anyway, I hope you guys can at least ~tolerate this chapter, keep the love comin'! :D

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**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: OR EVEN WORSE, EXPELLED**

When Hermione entered the common room, she saw Malfoy asleep on the loveseat. She didn't mean to stare but couldn't resist; his mouth was barely open and his platinum hair was sprawled on his forehead, giving a very handsome effect. Hermione pulled herself together.

"Malfoy. Wake up."

Malfoy stirred and opened his eyes slowly. Upon seeing Hermione he sat up.

"What took you so long?" He asked. His voice was husky, as if he was still half asleep, and Hermione felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"I ran into McGonagall…" Hermione started, and began wringing her hands. "I told her about Blaise."

Malfoy stared in disbelief. Hermione had not shown any intention of telling anyone about Blaise previously.

"I told her I didn't want to take it to court," she continued. "He's not 17 yet, so he technically can't be charged as an adult because he's not of age anyway."

Hermione looked on the brink of tears. Malfoy rubbed his hand over his mouth.

"Come here," he said quietly, and took her hand. Hermione did not pull away as he expected her to, but instead let herself fall into his arms, breathing heavily on his chest.

"He's going to be expelled, she's talking to him with Dumbledore now – they're going to use Veritaserum on him if he refuses to confess," Hermione choked.

"It's going to be fine, trust me Granger," Malfoy said gently, "You'll never see Blaise again. No one's going to hurt you."

"But-where's he going to go to school?" Hermione sobbed.

Malfoy nearly laughed out loud. "Of course you'd think about his welfare. Well, I guess he'd continue his education at Durmstrang, his mother's rich enough to be able to afford it," he said thoughtfully.

Malfoy smoothed Hermione's hair and kept her close to him. Minutes passed by and the words Malfoy longed to say slipped out of his mouth into her hair.

"I meant what I said to you – I do love you."

Hermione surfaced from his chest and looked at him.

"I don't want you to say it back or anything, and I just want you to know this has nothing to do with the vow. I just wanted you to know."

Hermione nodded and took a breath. "I'm starting to…warm up to you," she said carefully, looking at her fingers while she spoke. Malfoy's heart fidgeted nervously in his chest.

"I just need time – I mean, Harry, Ron -"

Malfoy nodded.

Hermione sighed. "Can I – I mean, do you think I could sleep in your room tonight?"

Malfoy grinned mischievously, "But then, where would I sleep?" he asked innocently. Hermione punched him lightly on the arm, and he moved in for a kiss. Hermione's wet lashes brushed against his as their lips met. Hermione cradled Malfoy's head, bringing him closer to her. When she pulled away she took him by the hand and they made their way to his dormitory.

IIIII

When Malfoy woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was a mass of brown fluff in front of his eyes. He stirred and stretched happily, moaning slightly while he held in a yawn. Hermione turned over to face him.

"You're up," she said contently.

Malfoy smiled and put his finger to her cheek. Hermione bit his lip.

"Malfoy, what exactly did you do to Blaise? When I saw you two in the halls he was walking in a really odd-"

Malfoy sighed. "After you ran off when finding out about the Unbreakable Vow I stuffed him into a Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. The cabinet's supposed to have a matching one, so it'd bring him to the other cabinet. It's broken – I tried to fix it last year – so he ended up in the mens' toilets."

"But Malfoy!" Hermione gasped, raising her body from the pillows, "That's really dangerous! You didn't know-"

"I know, I know," Malfoy said hurriedly. "But hey, I took a sip of the liquid luck, that must be it! That must be why he's alright now!" Malfoy grinned. "Guess your potion works," he said.

Hermione's expression softened and she slumped back into the mattress. Malfoy laced his fingers in between Hermione's and she looked at their hands. She raised her head up to him again.

"What about…you and Luna?"

Malfoy froze. He hesitated for a moment too long. Hermione whipped her hand from his as if it was on fire and got off the bed.

"Granger - "

But she was already out of the room, and with a loud snap, Malfoy could tell she was now secluded in her own dormitory.

IIIII

Malfoy ate his breakfast in silence, looking up every few minutes to see if Hermione had come down to the Great Hall. However, her usual place in between Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table remained empty, though Malfoy did spot the two of them glaring at him. He responded with a rather rude hand gesture.

As he got up to leave, Malfoy felt the eyes of Ron and Harry boring into him, and he knew they'd follow him out of the Great Hall. Moments later, his suspicions were filled as Harry and Ron cornered him in the Entrance Hall.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked pointedly.

"Sorry boys, that's a galleon per question, and I don't think you could afford it, personally, Weasley," Malfoy smirked.

Ron growled and repeated his question.

"She's either in her dormitory or in mine," Malfoy answered venomously.

Harry looked taken aback. "What would she be doing in your-"

"Isn't it obvious?" Malfoy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ron snarled and threw himself on top of Malfoy, punching and hissing like an angry cat. Harry pried him off after several attempts, ignoring Malfoy's strangled cries.

"Will your father hear about this?" Ron asked smugly. Malfoy's eyes gleamed but Harry yanked Ron by the sleeve and the two of them moved to the front doors of the castle and into the grounds.

Malfoy wondered vaguely if he could stand anyone else draining his energy when Professor McGonagall appeared at the staircase, and marched straight towards him.

"My office. Now, Mr Malfoy."


	17. Chapter 17

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am so sorry for lack of updates! I've been at my cottage and then didn't have internet for a few days. I've also been working on a new story (Daphne Greengrass x Harry/Malfoy/Blaise with Blaise/Luna) and I've been really excited and therefore putting my recent efforts into that. Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter!

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**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: A BROKEN VOW**

Malfoy drummed his finger tips on Professor McGonagall's desk. He tried to look bored but a surge of panic was rising within him. He wondered what she wanted. Flashes of possible scenarios ran through his mind – Blaise blaming his injuries on him; or McGonagall giving Blaise Veritaserum and finding out about the Unbreakable Vow. Malfoy ran a hand through his hair. McGonagall looked at him beadily.

"Something austere had come to my attention," she said tightly. Malfoy tried to wipe any expression off his face.

"A friend of yours, Blaise Zabini, kidnapped Miss Granger for a night, and although he did not hurt her, he placed the Imperius curse on her."

Malfoy's face remained blank.

"As he is not old enough to be charged and Miss Granger has graciously accepted a mere school punishment, Mr Zabini is to be expelled," McGonagall continued. Malfoy nodded.

"Miss Granger told me you were aware of this situation."

Malfoy's throat went dry but he nodded again.

"Am I to assume the injuries caused to Mr Zabini were caused by you?"

Malfoy said nothing but nodded for the third time. His heart thumped clumsily as he wondered, again, if she knew about the vow. McGonagall sighed. "Detention, Mr Malfoy," she said. "You may go."

Malfoy got up to leave, but once he turned away from McGonagall he heard her speak again. "Take care of her, Mr Malfoy."

IIIII

Hermione found herself in the library. She came here more often than usual lately, pretending to read in an armchair while thinking of Malfoy and Luna. Hermione took her usual spot and opened a heavy, leather covered book. After a few moments, Hermione felt she was being watched. She looked up to see a pair of light eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd see me," Luna said, her voice sounding as usual, as if from a faraway place. Hermione held her breath. She had come around to liking Luna, but now she felt uncomfortable. It was almost impossible to believe Luna had been with Malfoy the way she had been with Malfoy. Hermione was slightly annoyed to find she wasn't angry at Luna.

"You're angry at him, aren't you?" Luna said, sitting down near Hermione. Hermione sighed and nodded.

"You found out about us," Luna said simply. Hermione looked at her.

Luna smiled. "It was fun, but I prefer not speaking to him, truth be told."

Hermione opened her mouth in surprise and then giggled nervously. Luna smiled encouragingly.

"I think you two would be quite nice together, though," Luna said thoughtfully. "Give him a chance." Hermione closed her eyes. When she opened them, Luna was gone.

Hermione picked up her things hesitantly, and then made her way to the common room. Malfoy entered after half an hour. He looked at her but said nothing.

"I talked to Luna," Hermione started timidly. Malfoy seemed to be radiating waves of ice. He lifted an eyebrow and sat on the armrest of the couch.

"Did you," he said.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said in a small voice. Malfoy's eyebrows shot up, startled. "Everyone has history with -"

Malfoy silenced her with a grin. "Come here," he said.

Hermione walked towards him. When she reached him he took her hand and she closed her eyes to kiss him. She felt a hand brush up against her inner thigh and she shivered. Malfoy's voice tickled her ear.

"I forgive you," he said, and then got up, and smugly walked past her to his dormitory. Hermione stood still, anger and embarrassment rushing through her as well as a stinging stab of desire. It was a bit rich of Malfoy to be preaching of forgiveness considering what he had put her through. But she knew what he was doing.

A surge of heat and excitement ran through Hermione. She took off her clothes in the middle of the common room and rubbed circles around her breasts before walking to the washroom. She did not lock the door, and Malfoy heard the sound of running water. After a few minutes Hermione emerged, a throbbing in between her legs.

Hermione knocked on Malfoy's dormitory door, dripping wet. "I need a towel," Hermione said. Malfoy swung open the door and looked down at Hermione. Her hair was drenched, and her body was covered in water droplets, her nipples hard.

"I need a towel," Hermione repeated innocently.

"I know exactly what you need," Malfoy smirked under his breath. Hermione ignored him and walked past him to get a towel from the neat pile near his bed. It seemed almost foolish to be flirting and playing games when they had already done so many things together, but Hermione did not care. She walked past Malfoy again on her way to the door, but he grabbed her by the waist and rubbed himself on her from behind. Hermione felt a flash of desire in her cunt and tried to level her breathing.

"Tell me you want me," Malfoy breathed.

Hermione turned to face him and tugged on his lower lip. "I want you," she said, and then left his room.

IIIII

Hermione wedged herself in between Harry and Ron at breakfast. Malfoy entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Slytherin table so that he was right across from Hermione. He flashed her a grin and she raised her eyebrows non-committedly. Hermione saw him pucker his lips at her. Hermione hid her smile behind her newspaper.

Blaise showed up at the Great Hall doors as if he was thinking of having breakfast, but then thought better of it and left. Hermione's smile faded. She knew she had done the right thing in telling Professor McGonagall about Blaise putting her under the Imperius curse, but she wondered if she should have told someone about the Unbreakable Vow. Hermione had thought of it often, but she knew no serious issue would come from the vow; for months now, she had been in love with Malfoy.

"Hermione, are you going to finish that?" Ron asked eagerly, bringing Hermione back to reality. He gestured at her bacon. Hermione shook her head and smiled, offering her plate to Ron.

Hermione looked back up at Malfoy, and saw his face darken. Hermione sighed and wandered how she was ever supposed to explain her relationship with Malfoy to Harry and Ron.

Just then, Malfoy walked over to the Gryffindor table. Ron lifted up his fork as if he was ready for a battle, but Malfoy paid no attention to him.

"Care to meet me in our common room, sweetums?" Malfoy asked innocently. Hermione lifted an eyebrow but got up from the table, and followed him.

"Sweetums?" she asked as they reached the Entrance hall and made their way up the stairs.

"Yes?" Malfoy asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

They reached the common room and Hermione slumped down in her golden arm chair. "Well?" she asked.

Malfoy turned serious and sighed. "I wanted to talk to you…about the vow."

Hermione flushed scarlet and Malfoy was a bit startled at her reaction. He expected her to turn cold.

"What're you-"

"Oh, isn't it obvious," Hermione burst, slightly angry. Malfoy looked at her in bewilderment.

"I was going to ask if you had told McGonagall – and if you knew of some kind of loophole-"

"Malfoy, you can't make an Unbreakable Vow against an innocent person who wasn't connected to the bond! I wasn't there with you and Blaise and Theo, it's impossible for me to be involved-"

"But," Malfoy said, his mind spinning, "the fiery cords bound us-"

"Bound you and Blaise, not me," Hermione interrupted.

"Granger, listen. Snape and my mother made a vow and I was involved even though I wasn't there when it took place-"

"But it was to protect you, not kill you!" Hermione said testily.

"But then - Blaise -"

"He knew," Hermione said quietly. "He just wanted to scare you…and I guess kill you."

Malfoy was quiet but then sighed in relief. "So, you're safe," he said. "Is this why you haven't been as angry as you should've been?"

Hermione hesitated. "Partly," she answered.

"What else then?" Malfoy looked at her curiously.

"Oh, isn't it obvious," Hermione repeated, now the colour of a ripe tomato. "Obviously I love you back!"

There was a violent silence.

"What?" Malfoy said.

Hermione buried her face in her hands out of humiliation, but Malfoy saw her magenta shaded forehead peek out from her hands. He grinned and knelt in front of her.

"This is so embarrassing," Hermione cried.

"Come on Granger, it isn't that bad."

"How can I love you?"

"You can't be serious," he said, laughing. Hermione made a muffled sound and Malfoy pried her hands off her face.

Hermione looked at him, and Malfoy sighed and shook his head, holding her hands.

"What are we going to do now?" he said, smirking.


	18. Chapter 18

AUHTOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! So there'll be one last chapter after this one, and then a little epilogue because I have a cute idea for it C: Hope you guys are happy with how the story is going, and thank-you so so much for the reviews! Y'ALL ARE MY FAVOURITE. xoxoxoxo

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**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: STUDYING**

Hermione didn't like the idea of lying to Harry and Ron, but she felt it wiser to lie and say she was studying in her common room while they practiced Quidditch than to tell the truth and say she stopped attending their practices so she could snog Malfoy's brains out. The trio mostly met for meals in the Great Hall and sat together in classes, and Hermione assured herself that the boys were busy with their own girlfriends (Ginny and Lavender) to be upset.

Malfoy and Hermione were quite cozy indeed: they spent most of their time in bed or chatting animatedly by the fire; though a large chunk of their time together was filled, of course, with Hermione's beast-like behaviour while studying now, for their NEWT exams.

"Granger relax, you know your stuff," Malfoy said, playing with a fuzzy lock of her hair.

Hermione whipped her head suddenly. "Do you not understand these are the most important exams of our lives?"

Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her. She laughed nervously.

"I think you need to take a little break," Malfoy said soothingly.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Yes, Harry and Ron should be studying outside, I can check up on them and see if they're getting any work done. Maybe they'll even test me."

Malfoy's smile was strained. This did not exactly sound like a study break, but then he imagined Hermione running to the pair, snarling about moonstone and ancient rune symbols and grinned. He would probably be able to fit in a nap while she was gone.

"There you go," he said, and Hermione beamed. She pecked him a quick good-bye and managed to fit eight heavy textbooks in her bag before hurrying to the grounds.

IIIII

Hermione saw Harry and Ron sprawled out in the shade by a large beech tree, not looking particularly studious. Harry looked like he had at least tried to study; an open book lay beside him, though Ron seemed to have given up before he sat down, his books still in his closed bag several feet away.

"Honestly, you two," Hermione said.

Harry squinted in the sun and grinned at their friend. Ron however, grabbed his bag and used it as a shield.

"Don't make us study!" he cried dramatically.

Hermione sat down in front of them.

"Alright," she said simply.

Ron threw his knapsack away from his face.

"_Alright?_" he said indignantly.

"Yes, I'm supposed to be taking a break anyway," Hermione said patiently. Ron eyed her suspiciously but then relented and gave a sigh of relief.

"So, Hermione, what've you been up to lately? We barely see you," Harry started.

Hermione looked startled. "Oh, er, mostly studying," she laughed nervously, "lots of things to be crossed off the planner, you know…"

Harry raised an eyebrow. She could tell he did not quite believe her. Hermione put a small fist to her mouth and coughed.

"What about you two? How are Ginny and Lavender?" Hermione asked quickly.

Ron groaned and slumped back on the ground. Harry gave him a concerned look.

"Well, Ginny and I are fine, lately we've been spending a lot of time at the library, but Ron and Lavender have got into another row."

Hermione wasn't honestly that surprised; Ron and Lavender broke up every fortnight, and got together for the sole purpose of snogging for missed time. She murmured sympathetically in Ron's direction who waved it off.

"What about you, 'Mione?" Harry asked with a little smile, "I think it's time for you to find someone-"

"What?" Hermione spluttered, turning beet red. Since when did Harry give out advice on romance?

Ron sat up, alert. "You know, I did hear McLaggen say he thought Hermione-"

Hermione put her head in her hands and shook it. Could this get any more embarrassing? She supposed it could be worse, she could be having this conversation while single or lonely.

"Cormac isn't -"

"Cormac?" Harry asked. "Since when are you two on a first name basis?"

Hermione was about to retort when Ron interrupted.

"Hermione, what's happened with Zabini?"

Hermione was relieved at the change of topic, no matter how less amusing it was.

"That's right," Harry said slowly, "Now that I think of it, I haven't seen him in a while."

Hermione put her hands in her lap and nodded. "Malfoy gave me Veritaserum and it allowed me to tell him what happened, even though Blaise had tried to modify my memory. Then he told me what happened."

Harry and Ron gaped. They had only known about the Imperius curse and the Veritaserum after Malfoy had told them. Hermione had not spoken of Blaise, and they had not known he had put a memory charm on her. Hermione told them how she had not wanted to tell them anything because she didn't want them to worry; about Blaise and Malfoy and the Vanishing Cabinet; how she eventually went to McGonagall, and how Blaise had been expelled.

"You were too easy on him, he still should've gone to Azkaban even though he's not of age," Ron said darkly. Harry nodded.

"I'm just glad it's all over with," Hermione said.

Harry furrowed his brow. "So Malfoy – saved you, didn't he?"

Hermione was taken aback, but nodded.

"He also came right to us when he found out Blaise had cursed you," Harry said quietly. "He told us you were alright, and that we shouldn't tell anyone what had happened so that you could decide for yourself what to do with Blaise."

Hermione opened her mouth in surprise. She had not known this.

"He's really not that bad – Malfoy," she said in a small voice. There was a little silence before Ron snorted.

"Let's not go that far," he said.

IIIII

Malfoy woke up and smiled to himself lazily. He had just had a dream that involved a very naked Hermione and several homework planners. He looked over to his night table and saw his wand, a glass of water and his little vial of Felix Felicis. Grinning at himself for dating quite a genius, he rolled out of bed, wearing nothing but a pair of white silk boxers. He heard the sound of pages being flipped and made his way to the common room where Hermione was sitting on the loveseat, mumbling to herself.

Hermione looked up to see a demi-god standing on the steps. She eyed Malfoy's slim figure. His chest was so smooth and his hair such a light shade of blonde it was like he glowed in the dimly lit room. She blushed.

Malfoy grinned. "You don't have to turn red every time you see my chest, Granger. We are together now, after all."

"We are?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Malfoy frowned. "Aren't we? We told each other we're in love, and we shag and cuddle…"

Hermione laughed. "I suppose. We just haven't made it official yet."

"What would make it official?" Malfoy asked, sitting on the couch beside Hermione.

Hermione cringed slightly. "No longer hiding our relationship."

Malfoy nodded. "You mean from Potter and Weasley, in particular, don't you?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well," Malfoy said slowly, "the best thing to do would be to tell them before you said good-bye to them on King's Cross. That way it's out in the open and you have a quick escape," he grinned.

Hermione laughed. "Be serious, Malfoy. These are my friends. But I guess keeping it to ourselves until exams wouldn't hurt…I mean, I don't want the news to distract them from their studying."

Malfoy snorted.

"What about you?" Hermione asked worriedly. "It'll be more difficult, won't it? The Slytherins aren't exactly understanding-"

"Please," Malfoy said, putting a hand up, "they're not true friends. They're followers. They'll follow me or they won't. It's not like I'll address the whole house directly. People will just…find out."

Hermione found this a bit sad. She thought about her own friends and how'd they take the news. Horribly, no doubt. Though after time, she knew they would accept it. Harry would first no doubt, and then Ron later. Although Malfoy had been a bully, he had truly grown, and was still in the process of changing. He could not erase his "Mudblood" insults or his taunts of Ron's lack of wealth or Harry's lack of family, but he could try to replace them. Hermione thought of Ginny. She, perhaps might be understanding: she knew what it was like to pine after someone when nothing should come of it.

Hermione leaned towards Malfoy and laid her head against his shoulder. She weaved her fingers in his and smiled to herself, wondering how much of a scene Harry and Ron would cause when realizing she was dating Malfoy.


	19. Chapter 19

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been so lazy with writing. I hope you guys like this chapter and stick around for the epilogue C:

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**CHAPTER 19: NEWTs**

Hermione woke up on the day of her Potions exam with what felt like pixies in her stomach. She was nervous about the exam, yes, but could not help but also be excited. She wanted to show off what she had learned.

She pried herself out of Malfoy's arms – they rarely left their common room at the same time to avoid suspicion – and after dressing hurriedly, made her way to the Great Hall.

She was the first one there, and ate breakfast slowly, alternating between spoonfuls of porridge and muttering incantations out loud. The written aspect of the exam would come first, but she felt like practicing spells as well as memorizing her notes.

Hermione put her wand down on the table and watched Malfoy come into the hall. He slipped her a smile before sitting down next to Theodore.

"Hermione!"

Hermione's head snapped to the right, where Neville was running towards her with no less than a dozen books in his hands. He slammed the books on the table, causing Hermione's porridge to fall into her lap, and her wand to make a cracking noise under Neville's heavy books.

"I don't remember how to reverse a shrinking spell and I can't find the incantation anywhere!" Neville cried, ploughing through the books in front of him. Hermione's wand dropped onto the floor in the chaos, and was promptly stepped on by Ron, who had just slid into a seat in front of them.

"Erp," Ron said as he bent down to see what he had stepped on. He picked up Hermione's wand and passed it to her, both him and Neville apologizing profusely.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine," Hermione said quickly, though as she took her wand from Ron she saw it now bore a thick white scratch.

She cleaned up the mess in her lap and flicked her wand at Neville's empty goblet. It shrunk to the size of a thimble, and Hermione was secretly relieved her wand seemed in fine working condition.

"_Engorgio_," she said confidently, and the goblet grew into its original size. Neville sighed.

"Right," he mumbled.

IIIII

The students huddled around the Great Hall doors, waiting for the room to be set up into small, individual desks. Some mumbled soundlessly, practicing spells, others had their faces screwed up in concentration as if already forgetting what they had just memorized. Finally the students were let in and filed towards the desks.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together in the middle. Hermione was in her own world: she kept closing her eyes and nodding, while Ron by contrast, looked fairly green in the face. Harry simply looked sombre. Hermione looked at the group of professors at the front of the hall. They were murmuring quietly and each held a stack of examinations. Without a word, the examiners levitated the papers and passed them to the students, each paper floating before dropping on a desk.

Hermione looked at the first question in front of her. _How much moonstone does one need for the Draught of Living Death and what incantation is used to swell the stones before adding it to the potion?_ Thinking of Neville and smiling to herself, Hermione began writing.

As soon as her quill touched the parchment however, a small ball of paper hit Hermione in the head. The ball bounced and landed on her desk. Hermione's eyes darted to the front, but the professors seemed to not have noticed. Hermione quietly unfolded the paper, knowing who it was from.

_Good luck. I love you._

Hermione smiled to herself and looked to her left. On the far side of the hall, Malfoy winked at her. Hermione became alarmed when she saw Ron, sitting on her right, trying to read the note. He craned dangerously close and Hermione quickly put the note out of sight, but not before hearing a loud thump. Everyone turned to them and saw Ron on the floor, his legs entangled with his chair's.

Laughter erupted but one of the examiners hushed them while the other two examiners helped Ron back into his seat with soothing words, obviously believing he had simply over-excited himself with stress. Once the examiners had left Ron's desk, Hermione lowered her head to her paper and began to write. Harry, sitting in front of her, had turned to watch Ron curiously, but now too, returned to his exam.

Ron however, seemed to have no intention of looking at his test paper.

"Hermione, what did Malfoy write in that note?" he muttered. Hermione pretended she could not hear him and continued writing.

"Hermione. _Hermione!_" Ron whispered hoarsely. Hermione turned to her right and gave him a stern look. Harry turned and shushed them.

"Malfoy wrote her a note," Ron mouthed. Harry mouthed back, "So what?"

"So, she was smiling when she read it," Ron whispered heatedly. Harry, catching on, simply shook his head and returned to his test hurriedly.

"Hermione!" Ron whispered again.

"No talking, young man!" Came the voice of an examiner who had been strolling the back of the room. He walked in the aisle between Ron and Hermione's desks. Ron turned red and buried himself in his exam, and Hermione followed suit, but not before stealing a glance in Malfoy's direction, only to see the blonde grinning into his paper.

After a few minute of furious scribbling, Hermione pushed her scroll further up her desk and was attempting to read the next exam question when Ron made a dive in front of her desk, hitting his head on the Harry's chair legs. Malfoy's note had been underneath Hermione's parchment and evidently flew off the desk when she had adjusted her test.

Ron got back into his seat and Hermione made a snatch for the note but it was no use. Ron waved it away from her face and grinned.

"_Now really_, I cannot allow this kind of chaos!" said the same examiner who had told Ron to stop talking only moments previously. He was quickly making his way over to Ron and Hermione. Ron ignored him and unfolded the note, his grin slowly evaporating into a grimace as his eyes froze on the page.

"Young man, what exactly do you think-"

"I KNEW IT!" Ron yelled. The entire room stopped and turned to stare. Hermione sunk in her seat.

"_Young man!_" The examiner said, shocked. Hermione wondered if he was ever going to bother finding out Ron's name.

"Hermione, how could you?" Ron asked in disbelief. Hermione's face turned pink and she sat up straight.

"We'll discuss this later," she said and began writing. After a stunned silence, more quills began to scratch at the parchment and after a final warning, the examiner left Ron to begin writing his exam.

IIIII

After time was up, and test papers were collected, Hermione left the Great Hall in a rush. In a few moments the seventh years were to have their practical exams, and everyone began practicing spells again, huddling outside the doors.

Ron caught up with Hermione in a rage, Harry behind him, carrying Ron's bag and books nobly.

"Well? Anything to say for yourself?" Ron snarled. Hermione arranged her face to look pleasantly puzzled.

"Yes, actually," Hermione said, slamming the book in her hands shut, "Get used to it."

Harry gaped at her with his mouth open, but Ron cried, "_What_?"

"You heard me," Hermione said simply.

"Now hang on," Harry started but Hermione cut him off.

"No. You don't even know what the note said, Harry-"

"I have a pretty good idea," Harry retorted heatedly.

At that moment, Malfoy glided over to the trio.

"Is there a problem?" he asked smoothly.

Ron made a rather wild sound and looked like he was about to throw himself on Malfoy but Harry had grabbed him by the collar, just in case. Malfoy grinned slowly and turned to Hermione. Then in front of the entire seventh year students, planted a kiss on her.

When their lips separated, they were accompanied with an almost eerie silence.

"That-was not a good idea," Hermione said rather shakily. Everyone seemed to be staring daggers at the pair, but Malfoy smiled with ease.

"Anyone that has a problem will have a second arsehole ripped out for them," Malfoy said to the crowd.

Hermione covered her eyes with a hand but after a moment, everyone began chatting intensely.

She threw a furious look at Malfoy but he shrugged. "As the Muggles say…with the bandage…"

Hermione grinned reluctantly and Malfoy left the three of them to continue to do some last minute studying. Hermione turned to Ron and Harry.

"He's called you 'Mudblood'."

"He's gotten us into detention."

"He tried to kill Dumbledore."

Hermione nodded. She knew she would be required to give massive amounts of explanation and persuasion. But she also noticed the red colour slowly fading from Ron's face. Smiling timidly, Hermione opened her book.

After a few moments, the first group of students was allowed to enter the Great Hall to perform the practical portion of the exam. Hermione's name was called with a few others minutes later, and she entered confident, though relieved this was the last exam of the year.

The exam required the students to brew a love potion, and Hermione did so, cutting the ingredients up in front of her, using her wand to heat up the cauldron. The last step required Hermione to stir the potion in the opposite direction, and Hermione noticed it took her wand several tries before accomplishing the task. Hermione looked at her wand sadly, though her potion was done correctly, and received very approving nods from the examiners.

After the exam, the students were ushered through the back door into the grounds. Hermione walked around the castle slightly and the students reached another doorway that led to a staircase. Hermione began to climb her way up to her common room to wait for Malfoy.

IIIII

Hermione was lying on the loveseat with a hand to her brow when Malfoy came in. He saw her and dropped his bag on the floor, grinning.

He sighed happily and crawled on top of her. "Ah, no more stress," he said.

Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "Ron and Harry are furious, everyone looked like they were about to stone us to death in the hall today and to top it all off, look at my wand." Hermione took her wand from the floor and lifted it. The white crack on it had expanded, and a few hairs were poking out.

"We'll get you a new one," Malfoy said, and pecked her on the cheek. "And at least Potty and Weasel know about us, and the exams are over too. We're free! All we have left are career consultations."

Hermione mulled over this. There were going to be so many changes over the summer.

Hermione sighed thoughtfully. "So what should we do now?"

Malfoy shrugged. "Go upstairs and shag?"

Hermione smacked his chest playfully, but allowed herself to be tugged up the stairs and into her dormitory.


	20. Chapter 20

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sigh, how all good things must come to an end. You guys have honestly been so good to me, and I truly believe none of my other stories will ever be as popular and well-received as this one. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave reviews and for favouriting me. C: The epilogue is short but I'm planning to write a new, smutty one-shot of Dramione sometime soon to reward you all for your kindness, so keep your eyes peeled! Thanks so so much again and enjoy the end of the story! xoxoxo

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**EPILOGUE: DIAGON ALLEY AGAIN**

Hermione's heart raced as she pressed her nose against the glass of Flourish and Blotts, peeking into the store and eyeing the book cases. It was odd, standing in Diagon Alley, without a list of school items to buy. She sighed and tried to read the cover of a forest green book sitting on a shelf near the store window.

"Can't get enough of those books, can you?"

Hermione spun around and her eyes landed perfectly on Malfoy's. She let her gaze travel around him excitedly, from his dark slacks, buttoned white shirt with the sleeves rolled, and cool, ashy hair. Only a week had passed since the end of school, and the pair had sent letters to each other every day, though seeing each other for the first time after a short period of time made a flood of butterflies pass through Hermione's chest. She grinned at Malfoy shyly.

"Come on, let's go get a coffee or something," he said, and taking her hand, brushed it softly against his lips. Hermione smiled nervously.

"Oh, please Malfoy, can't I get my wand first? It's so embarrassing, being of age, and not being able to do any magic," Hermione said, slightly grumpy. Malfoy grinned and nodded, and they made their way to Ollivander's.

A small, dark haired girl and her mother came out of the shop and Malfoy and Hermione entered. Hermione was a bit apprehensive; she thought Mr Ollivander to be quite strange.

The two watched as Ollivander crept out of the shadows, his white hair standing in all directions. He looked quite made.

"Ah Miss Granger," Ollivander said with wide eyes, nodding at the brunette, "and Mr Malfoy, interesting," he added quietly.

"Hello," Hermione said brightly. "I've come to get a new wand, my old one snapped about a week ago."

Ollivander nodded.

"10 ¾ inches, vine wood, with a dragon heartstring," he whispered hoarsely. He turned his back on Hermione and Malfoy and began running his fingers through boxes, as if at random.

"Yes, yes…" Ollivander muttered to himself. Malfoy bit his lip to prevent laughing. Finally Ollivander returned with a slim box and took out the wand within it.

"11 ¼ inches, vine wood, and dragon heartstring," he said, and handed the wand to Hermione. She flicked it in the air and bursts of pretty blue birds flew out of the tip, and flew in circles before vanishing by transforming into forget-me-nots and falling to the floor gently. Malfoy looked impressed.

"Yes, I thought it wise to do as little changing as possible," Ollivander nodded gravely. Hermione beamed.

"I knew you would do wondrous things with vine wood," he continued, the veins in his eyes looking like they were about to burst, "but alas: the wand chooses the witch, you know."

Both Hermione and Malfoy made a point not to look at each other.

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A/N: And there you have it! I know it's short but I thought it was cute, haha. Also, the wand measurements/components for Hermione are correct, and the meaning behind the wood and the core is really interesting if you guys want to look it up on the Harry Potter Wiki. Thanks for reading and please feel free to read and review my other stories! :D


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